Let me hold you tight
by Lolathe17th
Summary: Santana and Brittany run into each other in NYC after not having seen each other for four years. However, Santana is carrying a big secret around... Will Brittany stick around to help her or will she run a mile instead? AU, future!fic.
1. The start of something new?

Author's note: This is my first story ever, just an idea I had, I hope you guys like it! If I get any reactions, I'll continue this, and anything that might be unclear right now, will be explained along the way. Enjoy.

* * *

Brittany's grown up a lot since high school. While Santana spent most of her time partying, sleeping around (there's really not a nicer way to put it), and only attending her classes when she actually remembered them, Britt quit drinking and partying, switched her major from dance to architecture halfway through freshman year and studied her ass off. She studied and limited her free time to sports. Dancing, running and karate. Motocross not so much, not in New York City. She does have a bike though, a big badass one that Santana used to love riding on the back off. Santana loves that Brittany rides motorcycles, but she will never understand what Brittany likes about karate – she took lessons for all of three months when she was about eight, so she considers herself somewhat of an expert – but Britt apparently loves pretending that she is Chinese (Santana's tried to tell her that karate's not really a Chinese sport, but Brittany refuses to believe her). Mind you, Santana still graduated cum laude, with a double major in psychology and music. She's always been a smart girl, just not a very studious one.

Anyways, as quirky as Brittany still is, always will be probably, Santana feels like Britt might actually be more mature than her. Scary thought. But then again, she shouldn't really be surprised. It was after all Brittany who never struggled with her sexuality; she just embraced it at the tender age of 14. Santana is still sorta rummaging through her closet, and they're 22 now. And she's pregnant with Puck's baby.

Yeah, she didn't see that one coming either.

It's pretty sucky.

* * *

But now she's run into Brittany for the first time in four years, and she's never felt more like a screw up than right now.

Well, telling her parents came pretty close.

It's just that… It's Brittany, Brittany with the puppy eyes and the unwavering trust in people. Especially in her.

* * *

Three weeks later she hasn't told Brittany. They have begun hanging out together. It's great, yet some awkwardness lingers over them. Those four years and untold secrets and insecurities about what they are, are all keeping them apart. They are watching One Tree Hill on DVD and eating pizza though . Just like they used to in high school, in the Pierce's basement, or in the Berry living room.

They are laughing carelessly, like they used to, when Santana feels a piercing cramp in her belly. She can't help but scream, and Brittany is all over her in a second, a worried look on her face. Then she notices a giant blood spot on Santana's sweat pants, and her look turns confused.

Santana is reduced to sobbing from the pain, but she somehow manages to tell Brittany "I'm pregnant". Brittany pales even more than she already had, and begins scrambling around for her phone. "I'm calling 911 San", she says resolutely. She talks to somebody on the other end of the line, but they tell her Santana has to come down to the hospital by herself if she wants to get checked out. Brittany is muttering to herself furiously, takes a second to gather her thoughts, and then scoops up Santana effortlessly.

"It's gonna be okay, San", she whispers in her ear comfortingly, before walking out the door, grabbing only her keys. She carries Santana the three floors down, not bothering with waiting for the elevator, and steps outside to hail a cab. Luckily she lives on a busy street. A cab pulls up immediately, and a concerned looking man steps out of the back of the car, telling her to take it, he'll catch a different one. She sends him a grateful half-smile – it's all she can muster – and gets in the car.

The driver takes one look at Santana and warily checks with Brittany if she wants him to take them to the nearest hospital. She glares at him, not really bothering with a reply. She swears if he says something about blood getting on his seats, she will punch him in the face. Santana seems to be slipping in and out of consciousness at this point, and Brittany gently pinches her cheeks in an effort to keep her awake. "I love you Brittany", Santana murmurs "always have, always will", before closing her eyes. Brittany doesn't know how to feel about this statement, but she doesn't give herself much time to consider it, instead calling Rachel to tell her to meet them at the hospital. She's stayed remarkably calm until now, but when she tries to explain to Rachel, she starts sobbing uncontrollably, and the taxi driver, who turns out to be a lot nicer than Brittany originally thought, eventually pries the phone from her hands while they're waiting at a stop light, and tells Rachel what hospital he is taking them to.

When they make it to the hospital, the man parks his car, and insists on carrying Santana inside for her. Brittany doesn't really know what is supposed to happen now, but it turns out that if you walk into an E.R. with an unconscious person and blood everywhere, they're fairly helpful. Santana's being put on a stretcher, and Brittany is being pushed aside, and told to wait in the waiting area. Their driver pats her on the back somewhat clumsily, and tells her that he is sorry but he has to get back to work. Brittany stammers something that resembles a thank you and stumbles to a seat.

She loses all track of time until Rachel arrives with Kurt in tow, both looking incredibly worried. "What the fuck happened?", Rachel demands, and Brittany is taken aback by her crude language, not used to hearing it from her. "I don't know", she stammers, "Santana just started screaming, and there was so much blood and and…" She starts crying again, Rachel joining her. 'I didn't even know she was pregnant', Brittany whispers. Rachel looks at her with sad eyes. "She was ashamed, Britt", she says. "Who is the father?" Brittany demands. Kurt and Rachel exchange a look, "I really think that's up to her to tell you", Rachel says, hesitation in her voice. Just as Brittany wants to start complaining, because apparently Kurt does know, a doctor makes his way over to them. "Is any of you related to the girl you brought in?" he asks. "I am", Rachel says, "I'm her sister". "All right then", he nods, "follow me, please".

Rachel gets up and walks with him, "Call my parents please" she tells Kurt over her shoulder. The boy nods, and gets his cell phone out, taking a deep breath before dialing the number. Brittany starts to get up, wanting to follow Rachel, but a nurse comes at them with a bunch of forms. "Try to fill out everything you know, please", she says with a friendly smile. Brittany focuses on her new task so she doesn't have to listen to Kurt's conversation, but her hands are shaking too badly to actually write stuff down. Kurt hangs up soon, and takes the pen out of her hands. "Let me", he says, "you just tell me what to write okay?". Brittany nods, and they get to work. She is surprised at how much she knows, basically the only blank is Santana's social security number, but her parents will probably be able to supply them with that info when they get here. They live on Staten Island now, so it shouldn't be that long of a wait.

After a while Rachel comes back with a tight-lipped smile. "She's okay" she tells them. Kurt and Brittany look at her, not saying anything, but Rachel understands them and says: "the baby too. It was touch-and-go, but it should be okay." Brittany realizes that she feels relief at this, and she wonders why. Her and Santana are not together. Not anymore. This baby is not hers. But she decides it doesn't matter. If Santana will let her, she'll help with the baby. It could become theirs. After all, Santana did tell her that she loved her, right?


	2. 13 years

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing/alerting/favoriting! It means a lot to me!

Please feel free to leave some tips how I can improve! Also, I'm sorry about any mistakes I might make, English is my second language.

And lastly, does anybody know how long it takes to finish an architecture degree in the U.S.? Does Britt have to go to grad school or not?

Anyways, on with the story! This chapter consists mostly of a flashback to when Britt and San were kids, which was a lot of fun to write, I hope you guys'll like reading it!

Enjoy!

* * *

_It_'s_ a hot day, and it took Brittany's mom almost a full half hour to get her covered in a thick enough layer of sun block. Santana stood by her side the whole time, waiting impatiently. Santana's daddy only makes her wear sunscreen in May and June, when her skin is not used to the sun yet. But now it is the end of July, and Britt's jealous of how tan Santana is; she thinks that Santana looks so pretty with her bronze skin that seems to be glowing._

_Finally her mom is done, and they leave the parking lot. There's tons of people, and Britt can feel that it makes Santana a little uncomfortable, so she grabs her hand. Britt's mom grabs San's other hand, and they smile at each other over Santana's head. Brittany is almost a head taller than Santana, so her and her mom often have little talks with their eyes without Santana even noticing._

_Even though Brittany is holding Santana's hand, she can't help but bouncing around a little. She is so excited; she loves coming to watch her cousin race, and this time Santana finally got to come with. She talks about all the different riders, and which bikes she likes best, and how she is going to win all the races later._

_Her dad indulges her, and answers all her questions, but both Santana and her mom look a little sad. Brittany knows that they don't really want her on a motorcycle, because they think it's dangerous, but Brittany knows she could never hurt. She has superpowers after all. She never gets tired when she gives Santana a piggyback ride, and she can climb the highest tree in Santana's back yard without getting scared, or falling. Well, she did get scared that one time when Santana's dad saw her and yelled at her to come down right this second, or else. She didn't wait to find out what the or else was._

* * *

_They find their seats and Santana helps Brittany find her cousin. It takes them a while, because the riders can only be recognized by their number. Once they got him, the riders line up almost immediately, getting ready to start. Santana doesn't notice the starting guy coming out with his gun, but Mrs. Pierce does, and she covers Santana's ears. When she hears the muffled shot, Santana shoots her a grateful smile. She doesn't like loud noises. Now that the race has started, Santana gets bored, and she busies herself with eating popcorn and admiring her new tennis shoes._

_After a while Britt's screaming gets louder than before. Apparently her cousin is now in third place. Santana helps Brittany cheer him on for a while, but then a rider in the back falls, and Santana can't tear her eyes away. She watches as he leaves the track, and a medic comes to check him out. The other riders keep going like nothing happened. Santana starts sniffling a bit, imagining Brittany falling like that. Brittany is by her side in a second, kneeling in front of her. "Don't cry, Sannie" she says, "I don't want you to die" Santana sobs miserably, and Brittany is confused for a second, but she catches on quickly, and uses her popcorn sticky fingers to wipe Santana's tears._

_"I can't die, silly, don't you remember my superpowers?" And Santana smiles, because she does remember, Brittany can give her super long piggyback rides without getting tired, and she is stronger than Puck, who is a whole year older than them. Puck gets really sulky when they wrestle and he loses to Britt, but it happens every time. "Besides, my mom won't let me ride till I'm bigger, and my superpowers will be even better by then" Brittany reassures her, and Santana sighs in relief. They go back to watching the race, just in time to see Britt's cousin finish second. Brittany jumps up and down in her seat, she's so excited, and even Santana giggles and claps as she watches Brittany doing a silly victory dance._

* * *

_Afterwards they go out for ice cream to celebrate, and then Brittany's parents take Santana home. When her dad greets her with a hug and asks her if she had fun, she considers the question carefully. "I did," she concludes, "cause Britt had fun. And we went for ice cream." Her dad ruffles her hair and laughs. "You want to go again next week?" Santana looks up at him with wide eyes, and opens and closes her mouth. "You know daddy," she says, "I think motocross can be best appreciated if you don't watch it too often. Now can I take a bath, please, I feel icky." "Sure, sweetie, let's go upstairs."_

_Her dad runs the bath for her, and while she is making a foam beard, she sadly tells him that her new tennis shoes got mud on them. "Don't worry about it, kiddo," he reassures her, "they'll be good as new when I'm finished with them."_

_When she gets out of the tub, she pulls on her Little Mermaid nightgown, it's gotten quite late, and she loves wearing it. When she makes her way downstairs, her dad is in the kitchen. She hands him her hairbrush, and he pats a stool by the breakfast bar. "Where's papa and Rachel?" she asks. Both her papa and her big sister are better at brushing out all the tangles she gets in her hair than her dad is. "Sorry, babe, they went to visit your grandma, remember?" She pouts, cause she wanted to tell Rachel all about her day at the races, and her dad is probably gonna hurt her with the brush. "How about we do this on the couch, and you watch a movie while I work on your hair, okay? To distract you."_

_Her face lights up. "Can it be the Lion King?" The Little Mermaid is her favorite obviously, but she only watches that one with Brittany. "Anything you want, baby girl," her dad says, and bops her nose. "I ordered us a pizza too," he adds. "We can eat it while we watch the movie?" she asks, surprised. "Only cause your papa isn't here," her daddy grins, and they high-five._

_They get settled in on the couch, and Santana is half asleep by the time the movie is over. She whines about having to brush her teeth, but her dad doesn't give in. "You'll thank me later," he says. Once her teeth are brushed, he tucks her in carefully, handing her her giraffe, the first present that Brittany ever got her. She hasn't slept without it since the day she got it. "Sweet dreams, princess, I love you," her dad says, kissing her forehead. "Love you too, daddy," Santana yawns. Leroy watches for a minute as his little girl gives in to sleep, and after a last kiss, he tiptoes out of her room, leaving the door ajar, so the room isn't completely dark._

* * *

13 years later, watching his daughter sleep in a hospital bed, Leroy still feels like Santana is that little girl, his to protect. He feels like he has failed though, and both Santana and Hiram had to talk in on him for a long time after Santana told them that she was pregnant with Puck's child. He had wanted to go find Puck and kick his ass, but Santana finally convinced him it was her fault as much as Puck's, and she didn't want him to know about the baby anyway.

Leroy had had a hard time understanding that, but Santana had seemed certain of herself when she had said that she didn't want to raise a child with Puck, and she knew that if he knew, he wouldn't want to leave her. "That would just make both of us miserable," she had said. Puck had been living in L.A. since they had graduated high school, and had only been in New York for a visit. "He's happy in L.A., and I want to keep it that way," she had said. "What if he finds out?" Leroy had asked her. "He won't," she had said firmly. "For his own sake." Leroy had given in, as usual.

His friends often jokingly wondered how a gay man's daughters could have him wrapped around their little fingers like Santana and Rachel had him, but he always insisted that daughters were an exception. It was true though, when Rachel and Santana were growing up, telling them no had never been his strong suit, leaving that part up to Hiram. They had often had big rows about this, but, at the end of the day, they had decided that their system worked, and the girls didn't love Hiram any less because he occasionally denied them their whims.

When Santana had told them she was pregnant, they hadn't been mad, just a little sad that she wouldn't get to enjoy her twenties like they had. Besides, they both knew that Santana was still struggling with herself, and she could have used a little more time before being thrown in grown-up life like this.

But they had gotten used to the idea, and the plan was that Santana would temporarily move back in with them a little bit before the baby was due, just so she could get used to life as a mom, and be comfortable, while she looked for a job and a place of her own. Right now she was sharing an apartment with Rachel and Kurt, but it was cramped already, and there was no way they could fit a baby in there as well.

Leroy looked over to the chair that Brittany was sitting on though, and by the expression on her face, he was starting to get this feeling that Santana might not move back in with him and Hiram after all.


	3. Moving forward?

A/N: thanks again for favoriting/alerting. Please don't hesitate to leave a review though, I would love to hear you guys's opinions.

No flashbacks this chapter, but an important conversation between Brittany and Santana.

Enjoy!

* * *

Brittany felt a little weird, sitting in a hospital room with Santana's parents and her sister. She hadn't seen any of them for four years. She used to know them so well, but she had changed so much in those four years that she couldn't help but assume that they had changed too.

Even Rachel seemed a little more subdued, she wasn't talking a hundred miles an hour like she usually was. But that might have something to do with the fact that she was sitting next to her little sister's hospital bed.

Needless to say though, there hung a weird sort of silence in the room, none of them wanting to wake Santana up, and not really knowing the right thing to say anyways.

After what felt like ages, but was in reality only about a half hour, Santana started shifting in her sleep, a telltale sign she was about to wake up. Brittany knew for a fact that when Santana was fast asleep, she didn't move at all. That girl slept like a rock. It was nearly impossible to get her to wake up too, Santana liked to do things when she felt like them.

This had often been a problem on school mornings, but Britt knew from the occasional weeknight sleepover how San's papa dealt with that issue. After a couple minutes of gentle prodding without any sort of a reaction, he would go get a class of water from the bathroom, and throw it in her face. "I know it seems harsh," Hiram had sheepishly told her the first time, "but we really can't get her to get up any other way."

Brittany wondered how Santana had handled this during college. She had probably needed about six different alarms to wake her up. Brittany grinned to herself, entertained by the image of Santana's bed surrounded by a bunch of different alarms. Her roommate must have loved that…

* * *

By now, the sleeping beauty had opened her eyes, and the four people in the room were by her bedside in an instant. "Stop crowding me," the girl said, still sounding sleepy, but also, and this reassured Brittany, like her prickly morning-self.

They all took a step backwards, and Rachel was the first to speak. "You're okay, San," she said. "And so is the baby." Brittany saw Santana blowing out a small sigh of relief. It seemed like she wasn't the only one who had gotten attached to the idea of this baby, despite the circumstances not being ideal. "However," Rachel begun, and Brittany, having already heard the news Rachel was about to release, braced herself, fearing Santana's reaction. "The doctor said you're gonna have to be on strict bed rest at least until the end of the first trimester."

"What? That's five more weeks!" Exclaimed Santana indignantly. So she was seven weeks along, Brittany calculated in her head. That meant that the baby was due in about 33 weeks, which meant the baby would be born in May next year. Brittany had gotten a lot better at math.

That also meant that Santana had been about four weeks pregnant when they had first run into each other. Brittany wondered how long Santana had known for that she was pregnant back then….

Brittany had also been wondering these last few weeks why Santana hadn't seemed to be looking for a job. She had told Brittany that her and Quinn had taken a two-month trip around the country after graduation, so she had probably only been back for a couple weeks when she had found out that she was pregnant, and Brittany was guessing San's fathers had told her to hold off on looking for a job till after the baby was born.

Santana had told her that Quinn and her had stayed in touch throughout college, and that their friendship had in a way finally become real. No longer at the same school, the competition between them was finally over. Now Quinn had just started med school at Stanford, and Santana missed her a lot. It hurt Brittany a little that Quinn and Santana's friendship had become so strong, while, during their high school years, it had always been Santana-and-Brittany and Quinn. "That's what you get for leaving without saying goodbye," she thought to herself.

Brittany checked back into the conversation, which had turned to the issue of where Santana was going to stay during the next five weeks, and who was going to stay with her. "I can stay home by myself, I'm not a baby," Santana kept repeating, and variations to that, but her parents and sister were ignoring her, and were talking about work schedules, and commuting back and from Staten Island, and maybe taking time off of work and… Brittany interrupted them. "I'm in my last year of school. I don't have very many classes anymore, I have to work on my thesis project, but I can do that anywhere. So I could stay with her, for you know, at least a couple of hours every day."

A slightly awkward silence fell over the room. "You don't have to that, Brittany", Leroy said hesitantly, casting a worried glance between the two girls. "I want to," Brittany said, "I've always cared about Santana, and I will never stop caring about her."

Eventually they agreed that between Rachel, Kurt and Brittany, Santana would only be by herself for very short periods of time, and the parents would come check up on her during the weekends. Leroy and Hiram left soon after that, they had to head home, and Santana only had to stay one night for observation. It took Rachel and Brittany a full five minutes though to assure the worried dads that they would look after Santana, but with a last hug they were finally out of the door. Rachel soon excused herself to go get something to eat. This left Santana and Brittany alone in the room.

* * *

Santana tried faking that she had fallen asleep again, to avoid having to explain the situation to Brittany, but the blonde wasn't having it. "Come on, San, I know you're awake. You scared me half to death today, you owe me an explanation."

"I don't want to tell you what happened, cause I don't want you to hate me," Santana whispered. "I could never hate you, Sannie, please tell me what is going on," Brittany pleaded. "If you don't hate me, why did you just disappear?" San asked. "I love you Santana, but by senior year I had loved you for more than ten years, and I figured if that wasn't enough to make it work between us, it would never work. I wanted you to have a chance to find somebody else."

"But we were just kids, Britt, we could have made work!" Santana said. Britt sighed, "San, I didn't want you to hide anymore, I thought that if I left, maybe you'd find a guy, someone you could openly be with."

"I would have gotten over my fear, Britt, here in New York I wouldn't have needed to hide anymore. I didn't even know we were in the same city all this time." Santana was crying now, and Brittany was fighting tears too, imagining that they could have had these last four years together. "I'm sorry Britt, I needed just a little bit more time. I just couldn't be out in Lima, not when we were already outcasts for having two dads. " She was sobbing, and Brittany felt terrible. She had left Lima without thinking twice, hoping that Santana would find somebody, and maybe she would too. But they had both been miserable.

She didn't really want to ask, but she had to know. "San, who is the dad? Are you together?" Louder sobs from Santana. "Please don't hate me Britt… It's Puck's, but it was just this one night, and he will never know!" Britt's heart felt heavy, and she had to resist the urge to punch something. She should have known, of course it was Puck. Him and Santana had always had this strange… thing between them, and Britt had been jealous of him whenever her and Santana had been together, even though Santana had always sworn that nothing happened between her and Puck when she was with Brittany. To this day, Brittany believed her. She bit her lip. "It's okay, San. You don't owe me an explanation."

"But I feel like I do!" Santana exclaimed. "I tried to get over you, I tried really hard, but I just couldn't forget you." Brittany didn't answer, but they looked at each other, and her response was in her eyes, clearly visible to Santana.


	4. Home

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you guys are enjoying this.

What I forgot to mention before: in this story Quinn did have Beth, but Finn was the father, not Puck. She still gave her up for adoption, but not to Shelby.

**Also, I need you guys's opinions! Should Puck play any part in this story or not? Should he find out about the baby? If so, when?**

In this chapter we have another flashback, one in which the first little hints about how Santana ended up with the Berries are given...

Enjoy!

* * *

_Leroy had just finished cleaning up his family's Saturday morning breakfast. Hiram usually did the cooking, but breakfast foods were Leroy's specialty. This morning they had had French toast and bacon. Rachel was upstairs getting dressed. Brittany, the Pierces' daughter was coming over. Brittany was a year younger than Rachel, but their parents were close friends, so they often played together. Meanwhile Mrs Pierce usually stuck around to talk to Leroy and Hiram._

_"Rachel, they should be here soon, are you dressed honey?" He yelled up the stairs. "Yes daddy, just finishing my hair!" came the reply. Rachel was only seven, but she insisted on doing her own hair every morning. It usually looked decent, so they let her._

_A couple of minutes later the doorbell rang. Leroy opened the door: Rachel hadn't come down yet, and Hiram had just run to the store because they had run out of milk. "Hello guys!" He said cheerfully, "Come in!" Brittany and her mom, Helen, stepped over the threshold. Clutching Brittany's hand was a short little black-haired girl Leroy hadn't noticed at first. "I hope it's okay we brought Santana" Helen said, "She's spending the weekend with us, but it was kind of last minute."_

_"No problem! The more the merrier, right? Rachel can you come downstairs and say hello?" Rachel, already prone to diva-esque mannerisms came sailing down the stairs, singing the Welcome song from Cabaret. Leroy and Helen smiled indulgently, Brittany grinned and tapped her foot to the beat, but Santana looked slightly alarmed, and went to stand more or less behind Brittany. "Don't be scared, San" Brittany said, "Rachel just loves singing very very much!" Santana didn't answer, but smiled shyly and waved at Rachel._

_Rachel took the girls upstairs to her room, excited at the prospect of now having not two but three people she could use in the show she was planning to put on for the parents. Meanwhile, Leroy and Helen sat down on the couch to have a cup of coffee and to catch up. "I'm sorry about bringing Santana, but she was over last night, and her and Britt both begged me to not take her home yet, tears in their eyes and all. They're really close, it's so cute."_

_"It's really no problem," Leroy assured her, "I bet Rachel's over the moon. I have never seen her at school though, I think." "She only started after Christmas break, her family just moved here. But Britt's teacher put them next to each other, and they've been inseparable ever since. It's a little weird though, she doesn't really say much at all, but when I ask Brittany , she tells me that she talks all the time when it's the two of them."_

_Surely enough, ten minutes later Rachel appeared downstairs to complain about the fact that Santana didn't want to be an actress in her show. "I mean, she didn't tell me that she didn't want to, but when I tell her her lines, she refuses to say them."_

_"Honey, you can't force someone to do what you want them to do, maybe Santana doesn't like musicals" Leroy said diplomatically. Rachel huffed, but disappeared back upstairs._

_No show was put on that Saturday morning._

* * *

_Brittany was a little upset by the time they left the Berry's house that day. Santana was _her _friend, and Rachel was lucky she even got to play with her. And she definitely had no right to boss Sannie around like that. People thought Santana was weird, because she didn't talk a lot. People also thought Brittany was a little weird, because she talked too much. She had no filter and a very bright imagination, as her mom put it._

_That's why Brittany thought her and Santana made such good friends; when they were around each other, Santana said a little more, and Brittany said a little less._

_After they left Rachel's house, they stopped at Taco Bell to pick up lunch for all of the Pierces, and went home. Brittany had four siblings, so the place always felt a little crowded. She had two older brothers, Aaron and Ethan, who were twins, an older sister, Alexis, and a baby sister, Grace . With Santana, that made eight people sitting down for lunch. Santana definitely didn't talk when all of Britt's siblings were there, but the Pierces seemed to like her anyway. She was an adorable little kid, with huge brown eyes and slightly exotic features, especially compared to the seven blonde blue-eyed Pierces. Besides, Brittany's parents could appreciate a child that, unlike all five of theirs, didn't feel the need to talk 24/7. Santana just listened quietly, but seemed to be enjoying herself all the same._

_After lunch, Britt's mom sent them and the twins outside. Grace had to go take her nap, and she was taking Alexis for new shoes. Her dad wanted all of them to play football together, but Britt's hands were barely big enough to hold the ball, and Santana's were downright too little, so they soon switched to soccer. Her dad was the goalie, and Aaron and Santana played against Ethan and Brittany. They were having a lot of fun, but soon Gracie woke up from her nap, and Britt's dad, Joe, went inside to get her. The boys kept playing soccer, and Brittany and Santana went on a fairy hunt instead._

_They couldn't believe it was dinner time already when her mom called them inside. Brittany was having such a blast, they were so lucky Santana got to stay all weekend. After dinner they settled down in the living room with a Disney movie, while Britt's older siblings hung out in the basement, where a play-station was hooked up to another T.V._

_What Brittany didn't know was that Santana got to stay over all weekend because, when her mom had called Santana's house on Friday night to schedule a drop off time for the next morning, there was no answer, and when she had called again on Saturday morning to see if Santana could go over to Rachel's till lunch time, no one had answered either. Helen had instinctively decided to leave a voicemail saying that she would drop Santana off on Sunday night. She just hoped somebody would be home by then._

* * *

The following morning when Rachel and Brittany came to collect Santana from the hospital, her room was empty. Brittany immediately started to panic, but Rachel pointed out that she was probably simply in the bathroom. The sound of retching confirmed her suspicions, "morning sickness," Rachel grimaced. "It hasn't been bothering her too much, but still… She absolutely hates it."

"Well, yeah, who wouldn't," Brittany said, while making her way over to the bathroom. Her heart broke a little when she saw Santana perched over the toilet bowl, looking positively miserable. Brittany went to sit next to her, held her hair back and started to run soothing circles over her back. "You'll feel better once it's out honey," she cooed in San's ear. Rachel stood in the door opening, watching them, not saying anything.

A couple of minutes later, Santana leaned back. "I think it's over," she said. Brittany got up, and got her a drink of water. "You know, Rach, Brittany really is a lot better at this than you are." Rachel huffed, "I always check up on you" she said. Truthfully though, Rachel really wasn't the most comforting person out there. Sure, she had changed a lot since high school, and she loved Santana a lot, but she would always remain a little diva who was just a tad self-involved. Plus, she really wasn't very good with vomit. "Thanks though, Britt," Santana said, "you almost made this bearable."

Brittany smiled at her. "You're welcome, San, you know I don't mind a little gore." They both laughed. It was true though, Brittany loved horror movies, the bloodier the better.

"Let's get you home, San" Rachel said, and left the room to go find a wheelchair, and to sign some discharge forms. "Yeah, home, and straight back to bed with you, missy," Brittany said, "Doctor's orders!" Santana groaned. "I'll stay on the couch, but I refuse to stay in bed all day."

Surely that wouldn't make a difference, Brittany thought to herself, as long as she didn't move around and was in a comfortable position… "Sure, Sannie, whatever you want." Santana grinned. Damn it, Britt thought, she knows I always give in to her…

Rachel came back with the wheelchair and soon they were on their way. Once they made it back to Santana and Rachel's apartment, Brittany hesitated. She desperately wanted to talk to Santana some more; their conversation last night had been interrupted when a nurse had sent Brittany home because visiting hours were over. However, Rachel had already said that she would be at home the rest of the day, and this wasn't a conversation Brittany wanted anybody else to be a part of.

Eventually she made something up about meeting some people for a group project. She caught Santana's sad look, but she knew they would both feel uncomfortable if she stayed, unspoken words hanging between them. Rachel reminded her that her and Kurt both had morning classes the next morning, so Brittany promised the girls that she would be at their apartment by 8.30 sharp. Tomorrow they could talk.


	5. Encounters of the pleasant kind

__A/N: Here's the next chapter, with another flashback. Not much progress in the present part, but that'll be a big part of next chapter.

I was a little disappointed I didn't get a single reaction to my question about what to day with Puck. Quite a few people have subscribed to this story, but right now I have no idea if anybody is still reading this, so it would be really really nice to get some reviews/suggestions about Puck. I haven't decided yet, so you can still let me know.

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

_It's a Thursday night in March when Santana's dad calls her to the door. She had heard the doorbell but had assumed it wasn't for her, as it was after nine on a school night._

_It was Brittany. Today was Britt's sixteenth birthday. Santana hadn't expected to see her again today. She had gone out to dinner with Brittany's family earlier, but they had dropped her home around 7.30. Britt's party wasn't till Saturday._

_She was surprised, and was going to ask Brittany what she was doing there, but she immediately spotted the massive grin on her face, and the two helmets she was struggling to hold. "I finally got a motorcycle, Sannie," she cheered. Santana had seldom seen her so excited, an excitement Santana was struggling to share. She still thought it was dangerous. Brittany had been riding on a practice track for a while now, and Santana was okay with that, because Brittany was great at any sport, she was just good with movement, but now she would be on the road. With other people; people that Santana didn't trust._

_"Why do you have two helmets?" "My dad said I'd be driving you around all the time anyways, so he just got two," Brittany shrugged. "Can I take Santana for a little test drive, Mr. Berry?" Brittany asked, charming smile in place. "I'll have her back soon, sir, I promise."_

_Santana saw her dad's hesitation. He looked at her as if to ask her if he should say no, so she wouldn't have to. Santana signaled with her eyes that he could say yes. She was still a little apprehensive, but this was something she couldn't deny Brittany. "Go ahead, Brittany," her dad said. "Have her back by ten please, and for the love of god, be careful with my daughter."_

_"Of course, Mr. Berry, I would never put Santana in danger." Brittany promised solemnly. Then the excitement was back. "Come on, San," she said, grabbing her hand. "Wait. You need warm clothes. Didn't I leave my leather jacket here the other day?"_

_"Yes, it's up in my room," Santana said. "Well, then that's what you should wear," Brittany said, pointing to her own clothes. "I borrowed this one from Ethan, since mine was here. When you ride a motorcycle, you should always wear a leather jacket," Brittany declared, as if this was a universal and obvious truth._

_Santana ran upstairs to grab the jacket, which was slightly too big for her. She loved wearing it anyways, because it belonged to Brittany._

_Once she got outside, Britt was talking to her dad about the motorcycle, pointing at different parts and stuff. Santana didn't know anything about motorcycles, and didn't really care, as long as it was in good state, so it was a good thing her dad was slightly more interested. Brittany was so proud of her new baby, and desperately needed to talk about it._

_When Brittany noticed Santana, she blurted out "You look cute," before turning bright red. "Thanks," Santana mumbled, looking at the ground. San's dad seemed to think this was an excellent moment to disappear. "Have fun girls, and Brittany, remember, 10 o'clock and keep her safe," he said sternly. Brittany nodded obediently._

_"Come on, San, we'd better get going, it's almost 9.30." Brittany straddled the bike. The image made Santana's stomach flutter. "Don't be scared, San," Brittany misinterpreted her look. "You can squeeze me as hard as you need to." Santana put the helmet on her head, and sat behind Brittany, wrapping her hands tightly around her. "Ready?" Brittany asked her. Santana faintly nodded, and before she knew it, they were on their way._

_Santana knew Brittany was going slow for her, but it still felt exhilarating. Santana thought it was too bad she had to wear a helmet, because it would be a great feeling, the wind blowing through her hair. The next half hour flew by, and before Santana knew it, they were back in her driveway. Britt got off the bike, and helped Santana, who was surprised to find that her legs were a little wobbly. Brittany giggled, but told her she would get used to it._

_Santana took off the helmet, and wanted to hand it back to Brittany, but Britt said: "You can keep it here, my dad bought it just for you, remember?" Santana smiled shyly, "okay then."_

_Britt had suddenly gotten a little shy too, and apparently her shoes were suddenly the most interesting to look at. "Hey, San?" she said, "Shall I pick you up tomorrow morning? To take you to school?"_

_"You're allowed to ride it to school?" Both of them had been riding to school with Alexis almost every morning since Alexis had gotten her license. Before that, Britt's brothers, who were now in college, had taken them. Rachel had a car too, but unlike Alexis, who was the head cheerleader, Rachel didn't actually belong to the same social circle, and things were a little strained between the sisters. Santana's house was right on the Pierces' way to school though, so it wasn't that big of a deal._

_Santana felt strangely giddy at the prospect of riding to school on the back of Britt's bike every day. "I guess I should ask my dad if I'm allowed, you know with morning traffic and stuff. Come on in."_

_They made their way inside. "Dad, papa, where are you?" Santana screamed, none too gracefully. "We're just in the living room, dear, no need to make such a scene. Hello there Brittany, Happy Birthday," her papa said in his usual calm manner. Santana, however, was still feeling the adrenalin of her first ride, and she was practically bouncing as she asked her parents for permission._

_After a quick eye-contact conference, her dad said "Sure honey." "Thanks a million!" Santana hugged her parents excitedly, and Brittany did a little fist-pump, grinning massively. "Right now, though, I think Britt should head home. We don't want her driving that thing through morning traffic if she didn't get enough sleep."_

_"Sure daddy, come on B, I'll walk you out." The girls went outside, Brittany zipped her jacket back up, and went to put her helmet on, but Santana quickly rose to her toes, and gave her a kiss that landed somewhere between Britt's cheek and mouth. The girls both blushed a little at Santana's action. Things had between weird between them for a while, and they were both still getting used to the fact that Santana was dating Sam Evans now. "Good night, San," Brittany managed, clutching the spot where Santana had kissed her, before finally putting the helmet on._

_"Happy Birthday, Brittany, I'm really happy for you, I know how much you wanted this bike." Santana mumbled, and despite the cold and the faint awkwardness, Santana stood outside till Brittany had made her way off of the driveway._

* * *

The following morning at 8.25 Brittany's finger was hovering over the doorbell. It had been for five minutes. She wanted to see Santana desperately – it was really strange how much she had missed her the last twenty hours when they had gone for four years without seeing each other – but she was also nervous about what this day would bring.

Eventually she mustered up enough courage to actually ring the bell, and soon Rachel had her come upstairs. She was waiting for Brittany in the door opening. "Hello, Brittany, how are you this fine morning?" She said pompously. Brittany sighed, some things never changed. "I'm fine, Rach, can I come in?"

Rachel dropped some of the formality once they were inside. Kurt was finishing up his coffee in the kitchen, but Santana was nowhere to be seen. "She's still sleeping," Kurt provided, not giving Brittany the chance to ask anything. Her frantic looking around must have given her away.

Now that she knew where Santana was, she took her time to look around for a bit, at the furniture this time. The girls had hung out multiple times in the last couple of weeks, but Brittany had never been here before. Britt suspected Santana had wanted to keep her away from Kurt and Rachel for some weird Santana-reason.

The apartment was actually decorated quite nicely, but since Kurt lived there, that shouldn't surprise Brittany. She smiled in recognition at some of Santana's stuff, or things that she didn't recognize, but still knew Santana must have picked out. "Cute place." She told Rachel and Kurt. "Thanks," Kurt said, but he sounded quite smug, as if that went without saying.

Santana hadn't been exaggerating when she had said the apartment was tiny though. The living room existed of a single couch that stood way too close to the small T.V. There was no actual table either, just some stools at the kitchen counter. It was a miracle that this place had three bedrooms. Later she would find out that Kurt's bedroom (who had lost a bet against the two girls), was actually some kind of storage area, that just barely fit a single bed. Part of his clothes were kept in the living room in compensation.

"We didn't want to wake Santana up," Rachel said apologetically. She needed as much rest as she could get, obviously, but Brittany reasoned that they had figured a sleeping Santana was easier to deal with.

When she asked about the previous day, her suspicions were confirmed. "She first got up after about two hours, claiming that she needed a shower. It wasn't pretty stopping her," Kurt said. Brittany grimaced. She could imagine the situation all too well. At least Rachel and Kurt were probably better at saying no to Santana than she was. On the downside, neither of them how to deal with an upset Santana like Brittany did.

Rachel and Kurt left soon after that, and after a quick check-up on Santana who was sleeping like a rose in a room that screamed Santana so loudly that it almost made Britt cry, she settled down at the kitchen counter with some school work.

A little while later, she heard the sound of footsteps, she turned her head, and was met by a Santana few people got to see: no make-up, messy hair, barefoot, and wearing an old cheerio's' t-shirt that, judging by the length, had almost certainly once been Brittany's.

Brittany thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world.


	6. Honesty is the best policy

A/N: Thank you so much to my two reviewers! They made me really happy and motivated, so I hope the reviews will keep coming :)

**.Hale:** I know, I'm sorry, I get caught up in the flashbacks sometimes, but they are just so much fun to write! No flashbacks this chapter though! I hope you like it!

**CarlyDanielle**: Thank you for your advice! I actually really liked your second suggestion, so I'll probably do something along those lines! Puck won't make an appearancefor a while though, just the girls for right now...

The girls finally get around to a serious talk! I hope everybody enjoys!

* * *

"Why are you out of bed?" Brittany manages to ask, after getting over staring at Santana. The answer sounded kind of bitchy, "Jeez, I'm just hungry, I still need to eat, Brittany."

Brittany sighed, this already wasn't starting very well, but she just worried about Santana so much that she couldn't help herself.

"Sorry, San," she said softly, "why don't you get yourself settled on the couch, and I'll get you your breakfast?" "Fine," Santana said, sitting down and immediately turning the T.V. on. Brittany mentally cursed, they needed to talk! But she went about fixing Santana's breakfast without saying anything. When she spotted the box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the cupboard, she figured that that was still what Santana ate in the mornings.

She poured her a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice, but she didn't add any milk to the cereal yet. Santana preferred adding the milk bit by bit so the cereal didn't get soggy. She grabbed the open pint of milk from the fridge and carried everything to the couch.

"Here you go." "Thanks, Britt," Santana said, sounding more relaxed than before. Brittany figured she should give Santana a little time before they talked, after all, Santana wasn't a morning person and this was important. Britt sat down at the counter and tried to keep working while Santana ate, but she was nervous.

So much depended on this conversation. She wanted nothing more than for her and Santana to get back together, but neither of them knew what had happened to the other in the past four years, relationship-wise, and on top of that, a baby on the way would cause a lot of pressure, a pressure that new couples usually didn't have to deal with.

* * *

On the couch, Santana had finished her breakfast. "Britt?" "Yeah, honey?" These terms of endearment still came naturally to them. "I really could use a shower, Rachel and Kurt wouldn't let me yesterday." "How about a bath, huh?" Brittany proposed, agreeing that bed rest or not, Santana still needed to wash occasionally. "I'll run it for you, just sit tight, I'll come and get it for you."

"That sounds nice, actually, thanks," Santana answered in that soft tone that was reserved only for the few people whom she trusted completely. That list was pretty short, and Brittany was thrilled that she was apparently still on it.

Brittany went to find the bathroom. It was tiny, but there was a decent-sized tub crammed into it. Brittany lifted the shower curtain out of the tub, and turned on the water. She looked around for a towel for Santana to dry of with once she was done, and a smaller one to put in her neck while she was in the tub. She added bubbles to the water, and hesitated, but decided there would be no harm in it, so she went into Santana's room, and found her some clean clothes to wear.

San's closet was organized similarly to the one she had had in Lima, so it didn't take Britt long to find Santana's favorite sweats, a shirt and a soft hoodie. She hesitated again at her underwear drawer, but opened it anyways, hoping Santana wouldn't be mad. She recognized some stuff, but new lacey panties and bras had joined her collection, and Britt couldn't help but feel jealous at the thought of someone else seeing Santana in those, or worse, Santana wearing them specifically to look sexy for someone who wasn't her.

She walked back to the bathroom with clenched fists, noting that the tub was pretty much full. After checking the temperature, she called for Santana. "You're all set, call me if you need something, okay?" Brittany said rather hurriedly. She needed to get out of that bathroom, because she wanted nothing more than to take a bath _with_ Santana, settling her between her legs, and washing her hair for her, massaging her scalp just the way she liked it. Maybe soon they could do that.

* * *

Brittany sat down on the couch, so it would be more natural for them to start talking once Santana was done. She also turned off the T.V. She spent the next twenty minutes or so trying to figure it what to say to Santana, and in what order. Finally Santana emerged from the bathroom, looking refreshed. She had her hairbrush with her. Brittany smiled, she loved brushing out San's hair; it always took her a long time, because it always got very tangly, but it soothed the both of them. Besides, it would be easier to talk if they weren't facing each other.

Santana settled in front of Brittany, handing her the brush without talking. As soon as she sat down though, she said: "So… I guess we should talk?" She sounded unsure of herself, but Brittany, who had started on Santana's hair, was glad that San had initiated the conversation spontaneously. "I just wanted to say, Britt, if we get back together, I won't want to hide anymore, okay? I'm done with that."

Apparently Santana had done some thinking too… Brittany wasn't sure what to answer though. She was obviously thrilled about this, but she just didn't really know what the next step was. "That's great, San," she ended up saying, "so you do want to get back together, right? Like, now, or in the future?"

Santana turned around, insecurity flashing in her eyes. "Why would we have to wait?" she said, sounding small. "I mean, I'm not suggesting we move in together right this second, and we won't be going on too many dates in the next weeks, but why would you want to wait?"

She sounded sad, and it was killing Brittany, especially because she didn't really have a reason. It had just ended up being what she said to Santana in that moment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page here," she said softly.

"Okay," Santana said. "Well, I think we should give it a try, only, you know… There's the baby, right? Is that what this is about?" Brittany thought about that for a second. "Not really," she said, "I mean, if you want me to, and if this works out, I'd like to raise this baby together, you know? I mean, I know I'm not its mother right now, but I could be, if you want me to…"

Santana turned around, tears in her eyes. "Are you serious? Of course I would want that, you have no idea how much this means to me." Brittany used her thumb to wipe away the stray tear that had escaped Santana's eye.

"I want to," she said firmly, "but I do have to ask you one thing, San, and I hope you won't be mad, but I need to know. What's the deal with you and Puck?" More tears escaped Santana. "I told you Britt, it was just a mistake, he doesn't even know, and he doesn't have to."

"Yeah, but, what I meant was, how long have you been sleeping with him?" Now there was hurt in Santana's eyes, but she answered anyways. "Puck and I stayed in touch, okay. I mean, just the occasional email, that's all. We saw each other a couple of times in Lima, during the summer, or the holidays, but nothing ever happened then. He would tell me that I needed to move on from you, to stop being miserable, but he never came onto me or anything, he was just worried."

Brittany felt bad. She hadn't returned to Lima in over four years, she had caused Puck to worry over Santana.

"Then, over the summer, Quinn and I had just gotten back from our trip, he emailed me. He's been trying to make it as a musician, did you know that? He's in this band. Anyways, he emailed me to tell me they were coming to New York for a gig. I hadn't seen him in over six months, so I was excited. He was here for three nights, I went to see his show with Rachel and Kurt, and we would hang out, all of us, with his band members. His last night here, it was just me and him. We had been to a bar, and had too much to drink. We went back to his room, and we slept together. I guess we forgot a condom, I don't really remember all that well. The next morning we both realized it was a mistake. He apologized like a thousand times, Britt, he's a good guy."

Brittany sort of grunted. She knew that there was no way Santana hadn't slept with anybody else over the last four years, she was way too hot for that, and she had been with other people too. It wasn't like they stilled owed each other anything. But there was just something about Santana sleeping with Puck that got under her skin a lot more; hearing Santana defend him was not what she wanted.

"Please don't be angry, Britt, Puck and I are friends," Santana begged. "I'm not angry," Britt said, "but that doesn't mean I like this." No point in not being honest with each other, right? But Brittany saw Santana's walls rise immediately. She lay down, aggressively saying "well, I hope you can get over this, Britt, 'cause you just told me you wanted to be a mother to this baby, and it will be here in about seven months."

With that Santana closed her eyes, and pretended to be asleep. She could have been more graceful about it, but Brittany knew she had a point. If Brittany couldn't get over the idea of this baby being Puck's, there was no point in moving forward. She sighed deeply, and got up to get Santana a blanket. She covered her up with it, and whispered in her ear: "I'll get over it, San, I promise."

* * *

She could do this.


	7. Milestones

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the long wait, I got busy with school work, and this chapter was a lot tougher for me to write. It is the longest one yet, so hopefully that makes up for it :)

I hope you will like it, please let me know what you think!

There's another flashback in this chapter, not a happy one though. It's actually the first part of a two-part flashback, because I wanted to put some of the present in this chapter too. You'll read what happens next in the next chapter.

Enjoy, and please let me know how I'm doing!

* * *

_Leroy sighed. It had been a long time since he had seen Santana looking like this. And today was supposed to be a happy day. It was Santana's fourteenth birthday. Santana usually loved her birthday, especially the presents that came with it, but this year something was off. And now it was up to him to guess what was wrong. Even after all these years, Santana was often still somewhat of a mystery to him and Hiram. Rachel was like an open book, ready to share every single one of her emotions with pretty much everybody, but with Santana things were different. When she was little, you could tell she was upset when she stopped talking. Now, as a teenager, she would hide most of what was bothering her behind a mask of feigned indifference._

_And indifferent was exactly what she had been today. Something she never was about her birthday. Leroy tried to remember the events of the day, and Santana's reactions to them. She had woken up cheery enough, enjoying her breakfast in bed, Rachel for once not trying to steal his and Hiram's attention away. She had been so happy with the earrings they had gotten her too. She would get more presents this weekend, at her party, but Leroy and Hiram always started birthday mornings off with one present._

_After breakfast, they had all taken showers, and were about to leave the house when they had remembered the Measuring. Every year, on each of the girls' birthdays, they measured them both against a wall in the kitchen, putting little lines down with the date. On Rachel's fifteenth birthday, a few months ago, Santana had still been about an inch shorter than Rachel, but now, to everyone's surprise, Santana was just a little taller than Rachel. Rachel hadn't really gotten taller, Leroy suspected she was just about done growing, but Santana had been experiencing sort of a growth spurt for the last year or so. She had always been tiny for her age, but now she was finally catching up to her peers. Even the difference between her and Brittany wasn't as big as it used to be._

_After the Measuring, Leroy hadn't seen Santana till he came home from work around 6 PM that night. Her, Brittany and Quinn had been watching TV in the living room when he got home, but Santana had been studying her nails like she always did when she put on her little indifference-act._

_That meant that whatever upset Santana had happened somewhere between 7.30 AM and 5.55 PM. That didn't really narrow it down. And he couldn't even try to talk to her as long as Brittany and Quinn were here._

* * *

_"Hello, girls," he greeted them. A mumbled "hi Mr. Berry" was the response he got from their guests. They actually _were _engrossed in whatever they were watching. Santana didn't respond, and when he dropped a kiss on her head, she flinched slightly. What the hell had happened?_

_"Are you girls staying for dinner?" Quinn answered first: "no, my mom wants me home." Quinn's parents were very strict and she was hardly ever allowed to hang out at their house, no doubt because the Fabrays didn't approve of the Berries' 'lifestyle'. "I have motocross practice," Brittany stated, "my mom should be picking us up pretty soon now."_

_"Okay, then. San, sweetie, what would you like for dinner? It's your birthday, you pick," Leroy said, hoping this would get her to give him her attention. "I don't care," she shrugged. No such luck. Leroy sighed, and called Hiram, who was picking up Rachel from a dance class on his way home. "Can you bring us home some MacDonalds?" he asked, hoping Santana would eat her favorite fast food. Rachel would not be pleased, but she could deal for this once. She had some stuff in the fridge anyways._

_Soon after, Brittany and Quinn left, after hugging Santana goodbye; Brittany's hug a little tighter than Quinn's, but Leroy pretended not to notice. He went upstairs to change, and brought Santana a hoodie. She had to be cold in that tiny uniform. She had been a cheerio for about a month now, but Leroy was still getting used to it. And he still didn't know whether it had been a good idea to let her join. Sure, she was great at gymnastics, and her size made her a great flyer, but being a cheerio came with a lot of pressure, and Leroy wasn't entirely convinced that Santana could deal with it. Hiram had thought it was a good idea though, so they had let her join._

_At least she had Brittany with her. Quinn too, but Leroy suspected she was actually causing Santana more pressure._

_By the time he made his way back downstairs, Hiram and Rachel were walking in, carrying the food. "Dinner time, San," Hiram said. "I'm not hungry," Santana said. Both parents frowned. It wasn't like Santana to refuse MacDonalds. "It's your favorite, honey," Leroy tried. "I said I wasn't hungry, didn't I!" Santana suddenly yelled. She stormed out of the room, running upstairs with tears in her eyes._

_"You guys go ahead and eat, I'll try and talk to her," Leroy said. He was actually sort of glad the inevitable outburst had come so soon. The best chance of getting Santana to talk to you was when she felt guilty about causing a scene._

_He knocked on her closed door, but entered the room without waiting for a reply. They both knew she couldn't escape a conversation about what had just happened._

* * *

Over the next five weeks, Santana and Brittany worked hard on their relationship. They talked about the past four years, about what had caused Brittany to leave Lima, and about their hopes and dreams for the future. It was hard sometimes for Santana, she still didn't like to talk about her emotions, and she felt trapped in her apartment. Sometimes she wanted nothing more than to get out and clear her head, but Brittany wouldn't let her leave. Not to mention that Rachel would kill her if she didn't follow the doctor's rules.

One of the hardest conversations for both of them was telling the other who they had been with since they had last been together. Brittany had had two more or less serious relationships. In freshman year a girl had approached her and invited her to an LGBT-meeting. Brittany hadn't known if she should have been offended that this girl had just assumed she was gay, but the girl, Kate, had noticed her reaction and had laughingly assured her that she had awesome gaydar.

Her and Kate had quickly become friends after that. Brittany had met a lot of girls, but nothing serious ever happened. She was still too hung-up on Santana to do anything beyond kissing. One night though, towards the end of the school year, Brittany and Kate drunkenly slept together. After that night they started dating. Everyone told them it would never work, that they were way too similar, but they didn't want to listen.

Brittany remained pretty vague about the whole thing, but it was pretty clear that Kate had not been anything like Santana at all. Which is why they worked for a couple of months, but after a while they started driving each other crazy, and they broke up, amicably. Brittany didn't really mention this to Santana, but they were still best friends.

After that break-up, Brittany remained single for a long time, once again kissing girls at parties, but never taking it past that. In the beginning of junior year though, she met Olivia, a sophomore who had just come out of the closet. They had instant chemistry, and soon began dating. Brittany didn't tell Santana this either, but Olivia could have been Santana's sister. They were incredibly alike, which was obviously what had attracted Brittany. Their relationship worked pretty well for a good couple months, until Brittany accidentally called her Santana during sex. It all went downhill after that, they constantly fought about Santana, and Olivia broke up with her about a year ago, telling her to call her if she ever got over her ex.

Santana didn't know if she should be happy that Brittany had never stopped thinking about her, sad that Brittany hadn't truly been happy, or hurt that she had had two serious relationships with other people.

* * *

After that, it was Santana's turn to come clear, and she was soon crying, embarrassed about her college life. There really wasn't much worth telling, but she didn't want to lie to Brittany either. Not when they were trying to move forward from their pasts.

So she told her about the parties, and the drunken one night stands. The nameless guys that failed to help her forget about Brittany, that failed to stop her being attracted to girls. Until she had met Helena. Helena had been quite a bit older than her, she had been a TA for one of her classes. Helena had been able to see right through her, had sensed how unhappy she was, how she was struggling with her identity. They had talked for hours and hours, and eventually Helena had managed to give Santana some self-confidence. One night they had kissed, and soon they got very serious. Helena was always patient with her, letting her take baby steps, and eventually she had become comfortable with their relationship, holding hands in public and stuff like that.

A couple months into the relationship, though, Helena had started to become very controlling and possessive. She got angry over the most random things, and Santana became afraid of her. She never was violent, but her behavior was often threatening. One night, after a bottle of wine, they had a long talk about their issues, and Helena had confessed to being so jealous of Brittany, an aspect of Santana's past she had no control over whatsoever, that she became controlling over everything and everyone else.

The next morning Helena had left, and Santana never heard from her again. She told Brittany that if she hadn't had Rachel and Kurt on her side, she didn't know if she would have recovered from that relationship. Helena had become her whole world, forbidding her to hang out with other people. She had been neglecting her classes and had missed a lot of cheerleading practices.

Rachel took care of her, and helped her get back on track with everything. After that, she focused on school more than she had ever done before, but she went back to sleeping with guys after parties, having lost faith in dating girls, regretting exposing herself.

Brittany felt slightly nauseous after that particular conversation. She knew how vulnerable Santana was, and she knew that it took a lot for her to open herself up to somebody like that. She was incredibly grateful that this Helena-girl was out of San's life, but it made her unbelievably mad that someone could just abandon her Santana like that. A talk with Rachel about the same subject, while Santana was sleeping, didn't exactly make her feel better. Rachel told her that she and Kurt had been so worried about her, even when the two were still dating, but that she had practically moved in with Helena, so they rarely got to talk to her. Rachel had never understood how Santana had surrendered to a person like that, knowing how guarded she was, but Brittany did.

Helena had a psychology degree, and Santana wasn't strong, not mentally, she had never really gotten over what had happened to her in her childhood, and if one was patient enough, it would be pretty easy to break Santana completely.

* * *

After that conversation both girls had felt completely drained, but they were also grateful that everything was now in the open, and they now felt ready to move on. Brittany promised Santana that she would never leave her, not like Helena had done, and like she herself had. She knew this was something that you technically shouldn't, couldn't promise someone, but she meant it with all her heart. Not having had Santana in her life for four years, and having to deal with seeing Santana hurt like she was, gave her the absolute confidence that they could move through whatever future struggles would come their way.

There was also room for lighter subjects, such as baby names. Even though they didn't even know the sex of the baby yet, both girls loved fantasizing about this. They came up with the craziest ideas, and often laughed until their stomachs hurt. Brittany especially proved very creative when it came to coming up with names. They also spent many an hour trying to guess if the baby would be a boy or a girl. There was obviously no way to know, but while Santana refrained from voicing an opinion, Brittany was convinced it was a boy, and Kurt and Rachel were both sure it was going to be a girl.

All this baby talk made Brittany feel a lot more involved in the whole process, and she was gradually getting used to the idea of becoming a mother in a couple of months, while thoughts of Puck slowly started to disappear.


	8. Dinner talk

A/N: hello everyone! Here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy! Please let me know what you think! Also, I have two questions for you, but they are at the bottom...

* * *

_When Leroy walked into the room it took him a second to find Santana. She was huddled in the corner, crammed between her nightstand and the wall. She had always taken comfort in small spaces for some reason._

_Her breathing was labored, and thick tears were rolling down her cheeks. When Rachel had hit puberty, there hadn't been big changes in her behavior. The amount of diva fits had increased, and so had the door slamming, but other than that and the occasional bursts of moodiness, Rachel was still pretty much the same. Santana, however, was suffering a lot more. Her emotions were often all over the place, irrational anger and gutting sadness fighting against each other, usually for reasons no one, including herself, understood._

_She had been having these crying bouts for about a year now, breaking both her parents' hearts, and exerting her small body so much that she usually started hyperventilating after a while. Afterwards she usually claimed that she didn't know why she had been crying. Leroy knew Santana wasn't very open about her emotions, and she often closed herself off, but he genuinely believed that occasionally the teenage hormones were the only cause of the fits._

_There usually wasn't much they could do to stop them, but since Leroy was fairly certain that this one had a definite cause, he decided to try and calm her down. He gently pried her out of the corner and sat them both down on her bed, putting his arms loosely around her. After a while of cooing gentle words to her, the crying lessened, and Leroy took his chance._

_"What is going on, sweetheart?" he prodded, "you can talk to me about anything you know that, right?" Santana didn't answer right away, and started crying again. Leroy knew not to push her though, and waited patiently. Eventually she sobbed: "I'm getting too tall!"_

_This had Leroy beyond confused. He probably knew more about teenage girls than most gay men did, but occasionally he felt really out of his depth, and tonight was apparently going to be one of those times._

_"You're gonna have to give me a little more than that, San, I don't understand," he said softly. "For the cheerios!" Santana exclaimed angrily, if I get any taller Sue's gonna kick me off the team!"_

_Leroy immediately felt anger rising up in his chest, but tried to remain calm so he wouldn't overreact like he had occasionally done in the past. "Did she tell you that, sweetheart?" he asked._

_"No, but I just know it!" Santana said, sounding miserable. "I'm not strong enough to be a base, and if I get taller I'll be too big to be a flyer."_

_Despite what she was saying, Leroy was relieved. This was all in Santana's head. To others this might have seemed like somewhat of a trivial issue, but Leroy knew his daughter didn't handle rejection well. Not being good enough, not being accepted was her biggest fear. This was a serious issue that they had talked about at length with the therapist she used to see when she was younger._

_He could fix this easily enough for right now, but he knew that they would have to keep a close eye on her, and that they would have to monitor her eating habits. He once again questioned their decision of letting her join the cheerleading team, but at this point it would probably be worse to make her quit._

_"Honey listen to me, okay?" he said. "You are perfect. You are growing, obviously, but that is normal. The other girls on your team are growing too. Everything will be okay." He probably could go into this more, but he just wanted to soothe her right now, and didn't want to say the wrong thing._

_He did decide that him and Hiram would be having a little talk with that Sue lady soon. He wasn't above threats when it came to protecting his daughters. He was going to make sure that Sue would not talk about Santana's body in any way. Ever._

_"So how about some dinner then, sweetie? You must be hungry." Santana had completely calmed down at that point, but she still didn't answer. "Hey you know what, MacDonalds isn't going to make you taller, San, if anything, I think it may stunt kids' growth." This earned him a watery smile, and they went downstairs to reheat Santana's birthday dinner._

_Crisis averted. For now._

* * *

By the time the five weeks had passed, Santana and Brittany felt like they were pretty much back to the way they used to be. Only the physical aspect of their relationship was still somewhat awkward. Santana wasn't supposed to be moving around, and Rachel and Kurt were often with them. On top of that, neither girl really knew what the boundaries between them were. They had had sex before, obviously, but it almost seemed as if they were afraid to touch each other now.

About two weeks after Santana was released from the hospital, Brittany had kissed her on the cheek one night as she was leaving, but the kiss had accidentally mostly landed on her mouth. Somehow this had ended in a full-on make-out session that was getting pretty heated pretty quickly until they were rudely interrupted by a shocked Rachel.

After that first time, they had become less shy about touching each other, and they kissed frequently, but it hadn't gone further than that and it was Santana's bath time that specifically made things awkward. Brittany would draw Santana a bath, and find her some clean clothes for after, like she had that first day. But then she never knew whether or not to stay in the room once Santana got in.

She had always left, but her whole body was yearning to see all of Santana again.

But now that Santana's prescribed time of bed rest was finally over, this relationship was about to get a lot more real. The weird thing was that they had been a couple before, so certain things felt very natural and familiar, but they had been kids when they had last dated, and they were adults now. Adults about to undergo a life changing experience.

There were still a lot of things to figure out, like their living situation, but tonight Brittany just wanted Santana to enjoy her first night of freedom. She was taking her out to dinner, and as per Santana's request, they were going for a walk through Central Park afterwards.

Brittany stood in front of her mirror, nervously trying to decide what to wear. She usually wasn't one to fuss over outfits, she left that to Santana, but the restaurant they were going to was kind of fancy, and she wanted to impress Santana. Eventually she decided on one of the few dresses in her closet. It was simple, dark blue, but it showed off her figure. She decided to let her hair down, and she put on a little bit of makeup. Now all she had to figure out was shoes. Eventually she settled on a pair of sandals, so she wouldn't be too much taller than Santana.

* * *

Twenty blocks away Santana was doing the same thing, trying to get ready for her first date with Brittany. She had two helpers though. One for which she was very grateful – even though Kurt's own outfits tended to border on ridiculous sometimes, he knew what looked good on her – and one she could do without. Rachel's fashion sense hadn't evolved much, and although she had some decent dresses in her closet, she still tended to screw up the rest of her outfit on a regular basis. On top of that Rachel was probably the most opinioned person on the planet, and she was currently turning down every one of Kurt's choices because they were 'too revealing' according to her. It was true that Santana's cleavage had become even more pronounced now that she was three months pregnant, but she didn't think Brittany would mind staring at it. Fortunately Kurt agreed with her, and Rachel left eventually, not without slamming the door because nobody appreciated her.

"Some things never change," Santana sighed, but she was smiling. She loved Rachel with all her quirks, and she was well aware of the fact that she wasn't the easiest person to get along with either. They had long ago learned to deal with each other personalities, and little tiffs like this were more of a tradition they wanted to maintain than anything else.

Eventually her and Kurt decided on a bright pink dress that accentuated her cleavage, but sat loosely around her midsection. At three months, there was the beginning of a baby bump, and Santana wasn't ashamed of it or anything, but she was still getting used to it. She curled her hair and did her makeup, while Kurt was looking for the right pair of shoes. He eventually settled on blue heels, not too high because of the baby.

They were just finished when the doorbell rang. Santana rushed to open it, and when they saw each other, both women's breaths hitched. They just stood there, taking in each other's beauty. After a long while Rachel cleared her throat loudly, "it is impolite not to invite a guest in, Santana," she said. "We should, we should probably just get going, right Britt?" Santana asked. Brittany reluctantly tore her gaze away from Santana and looked at Rachel, "Yes, we should, sorry, but we've got dinner reservations."

* * *

The girls took a cab to the restaurant, it was quite far, and Brittany didn't want Santana to overexert herself. Once they made it there, Brittany paid the driver and lead Santana inside. "This place is gorgeous, B," she said, "I love it." Brittany beamed. She knew that Santana appreciated a little luxury once in a while.

The girls sat down, and enjoyed the great service and excellent food the restaurant offered. They made easy small talk, gossiping about Kurt and Rachel's love lives, and talking about Brittany's school friends.

Over dessert, Brittany gathered her courage, and brought up the topic she had been avoiding all night. "San," she began. Santana looked up at her curiously, noticing her change of tone. "There's something I've been wanting to ask you." She hesitated before continuing, Santana's big brown eyes distracting her. "I was hoping you would consider moving in with me," she rushed out in one breath, not looking at Santana anymore. "I have a lot more space, and I live alone, and if we want to raise a baby together, we should at least be living together, right?" Santana didn't answer straight away, so she added: "I don't mean right now, but you know, soonish, so you're settled before the baby is due."

When Santana spoke, her voice was softer than ever before: "Britt, of course I want to move in with you at some point. Before the baby is born." She added that last part with a shy smile. "But don't you think you're jumping the gun a little here? I haven't even seen your place yet. This is our first date."

Brittany knew she had asked quickly, but this whole baby thing made her feel a little pressured. She swallowed dryly, not quite knowing what to say.

Santana started talking again, sounding much lighter: "So how about we go over to your place tonight, huh? You can show me around, and I could spend the night?" Brittany was surprised to hear Santana take initiative like this, usually that was left up to her. "That sounds great," she beamed. She couldn't way to have Santana sleep in her arms again, it had been far too long. In the past five weeks she had not spent the night once, both of them feeling a little awkward with Kurt and Rachel around.

Brittany paid for the dinner, and they left right after, both anxious of what was ahead. They decided to forego the walk, Santana claimed she couldn't wait any longer to see Britt's apartment, but Brittany could tell she was getting tired.

* * *

A/N 2: so, my questions are:

1. when should Santana move in with Brittany? How long should they wait?

2. Should they know the sex of the baby before it is born or not?

Let me know what you guys think!


	9. New horizons

A/N: Hi guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews! They made me really happy and motivated me to get this chapter out a little sooner. As an added bonus, it's the longest one yet!  
A special shout-out to CarlyDanielle, you have the best ideas! You'll probably see them pop up in later chapters! :)

I've decided to ask you questions again, since I got a lot of feedback last time, and I need all the help I can get! They are on the bottom. If for any reason you don't want to leave a review, you can always PM me too.

The flashback will once again be continued next chapter.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

* * *

_"I think we're all set!" Hiram said cheerfully. They were leaving to Disney World the next morning. While Leroy had finally gotten around to packing his own things, Hiram had helped the girls with their suitcases. They had both wanted to bring enough outfits to last them about a month, plus pretty much the entire contents of their playroom. Convincing them to reduce their baggage to a suitcase each probably hadn't been an easy job, and Leroy didn't envy Hiram._

_"They want a kiss goodnight," Hiram continued. "They're in bed?" Leroy asked, surprised. Hiram's firm hand worked wonders apparently, because he had accomplished a lot in a short time. "They sure are," he replied, "I hope they'll actually sleep, though, we don't want them to be tired before we even leave."_

_"I don't know, maybe then they'll sleep on the plane," Leroy said. "Yeah right, like Rachel would sleep during the day, you know she doesn't want to waste a single minute not preparing herself for her future as a superstar," Hiram smirked. "I guess you're right. I hope San will be okay though."_

_It would be their seven-year-old's first time on a plane, and like with every new experience, they didn't know how she would take to it. Santana's therapist had told them that it was hard to predict, but she had told them to try and not make a big deal of it, just treating the experience like it was a daily occurrence would probably their best bet if they wanted Santana to stay calm throughout._

_Leroy went to tuck in the girls, and after he and Hiram went to bed too. Tomorrow would be a long day._

* * *

_It turned out Santana loved flying. She had not liked the airport, not at all, the crowds and all the security freaking her out big time, but by the time they could board the plane, she had mostly calmed down, and once in her seat she had been fine. She had gotten the window seat, Leroy next to her, while Rachel and Hiram had been in front of them. She had sat there, staring out of the window with big eyes the entire plane ride, not talking and not coloring or reading or anything to pass the time._

_When they had landed, Santana had been reluctant to get off, making her parents smile at each other, somehow feeling very accomplished. "That was so much fun," she finally said, "I felt like I was flying!" "That's great, kiddo, now how about we get off the plane, so we can actually get to Disney!" Leroy said._

_"We're not there yet?" Santana asked, surprised. "Of course not, silly," Rachel said. Santana stuck out her tongue. "Girls," Hiram said warningly. Leroy lifted Santana in his arms, and they finally got out of the plane, Leroy tickling a squirming Santana in an attempt to distract her from this new airport. After a warning look from Hiram that meant he wasn't supposed to get her too wound up, he switched to stories about the last time they had come to Disney with Rachel two years ago._

_They made it to their rental car without any major incidents, and they finally took off towards the park. Once they finally got to their room and got everything settled, the girls were no longer to be contained. They wanted Disney, and they wanted it now. Santana didn't really know what to expect, never having been to an amusement park before, but Rachel's excitement was contagious._

_After struggling to apply sunscreen to two impatient girls – snow was still covering the ground in Lima after all – they finally took off to the Magic Kingdom. They knew Santana wouldn't like the crowdedness and the loudness, but they hoped her love for all things Disney would make up for it._

_They got lucky, and they all had a great time riding some of the smaller rides – neither of their girls was really a daredevil – and got lucky enough to meet Ariel, Santana's idol and love. They had expected her to be a little shy, but she had been uncharacteristically forward, asking for a signature for her bestest friend Britty and smothering her whole face with kisses. Leroy shot as many pictures as he could, cracking up, while Hiram pulled her away apologetically._

_Things had started to go downhill after that. Santana was upset that she had been taken away from Ariel so abruptly, Rachel was making fun of her, and both of them were getting tired. After dinner everybody was in a slightly better mood again, but the dads should have called it a day after that, and kept the fireworks for the next day, when they wouldn't have journeyed through the country earlier in the day. Instead they gave in to Rachel's whining, and patiently waited for it to get dark._

_When 10 PM came, and Santana heard and saw the first fireworks she had ever witnessed, she freaked out. She hadn't been prepared for the loud booms, and so she did what her instincts told her to do: she ran._

* * *

When Brittany led Santana through the front door of her apartment, Santana's eyes got comically wide. "Wow, B, this place is amazing!" "I'm glad you like it!" Brittany said happily. This apartment was her pride and joy. "But how can you afford this?" Santana asked bluntly. "All those years of motocross and karate competitions paid off," Brittany shrugged. "And when my grandma died, turned out she had a lot more money than we knew. My dad divided half of it among the five of us."

"Lucky," Santana said, "So did you buy this place, or are you renting it?" She couldn't believe they hadn't discussed this before. "I bought it," Brittany said, like it was no big deal. "Wow," Santana was thoroughly impressed. "Sorry that you've had to spend so much time at my place lately, from now on we should definitely hang out here."

"Hey, I like your apartment too. It's cute." Santana snorted. "That's the problem. Anyways, care to give me the grand tour?" "Sure!" There was a big open living room that connected to nice kitchen, which had a cooking island, so you could look into the living room while preparing your meals, which wasn't all that special when you were living alone, but it would be nice once Santana would move in. The kitchen was modern, while the living room was more homey, but somehow they didn't clash. The rest of the apartment consisted of a spacious bathroom, and two more than decently sized bedrooms, one of which was decorated as an office/home gym right now. "This can be the nursery!" Brittany said with conviction.

"What about your stuff?" Santana asked. The idea of her living here, wìth a baby, was still very new and kind of scary to her. "Don't worry, San, we'll figure it out," Brittany reassured her. She knew her girlfriend well enough to understand she wasn't really concerned about Brittany's elliptical.

"Come on, I'll show you the bedroom." Britt's room had to be about the coziest room Santana had ever seen, the bed was big but inviting, the walls were painted a perfect shade of pink, and there were pictures everywhere. Many were of Santana alone, or of the two of them, she noticed, but there were also plenty of photos of people she had never seen before, and somehow it made her a little uneasy.

Despite that she meant it when she told Brittany: "It's perfect, babe, I love it." Brittany grinned, over the moon that Santana seemed to like her apartment. "Great! Now it's time for bed. Just because you're off bed rest, doesn't mean you get to stay up all night," she said, trying but failing to sound stern. Santana gave her a soft smile. "Can I wash my face first, at least?" she said, sounding fake-serious. Brittany almost looked guilty, genuinely believing she had sounded too strict.

"Of course you can! Come on!" They went to the bathroom and carefully wiped the make-up off their faces. Brittany dug up a spare toothbrush from the cabinet. "Here, this can be yours," she said shyly. "Thanks!" Santana said, kissing Brittany firmly on the mouth, smiling when Brittany blushed slightly.

The girls brushed their teeth, and made their way back to the bedroom. Brittany handed Santana a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. "Claiming me?" Santana smirked. Brittany blushed again, profusely this time. She had given Santana a shirt from her volleyball team, on the back 'Pierce' was spelled in big letters. She hadn't done it consciously, but the thought of Santana wearing it sent tingles down her spine nonetheless. "I didn't notice," she mumbled. Santana took pity on her. "It's okay, Britt, just messing with you."

The girls changed quickly, and despite the fact that both of them were casting each other not-so-subtle glances, it didn't feel awkward. They had been doing that in locker rooms for years after all. Finally they got into bed, Santana instinctively putting her head on Brittany's chest, wrapping an arm around her waist. It felt natural to them, even though it had been ages since they had been this close, and they both fell asleep almost straight away.

* * *

When Brittany woke up the next morning, she couldn't breathe very well, and there was an uncomfortable pressure on her bladder. She opened her eyes but all she saw was black. When she opened her mouth and practically inhaled hair, she finally remembered Santana had spent the night. Her mind was a little slow in the mornings. Even though Santana was lying fully on top of her, she had had the best night of sleep in a very long time. Judging by Santana's unmoving form, she was sleeping soundly too, as she hopefully had been all night.

Brittany wiggled her way from underneath Santana, the other girl somehow not waking up, and after a bathroom stop, she headed to the kitchen, deciding to surprise Santana. She wasn't a very good cook, but she made mean French toast, and that just happened to be San's favorite breakfast.

A short amount of time later, she put two neat plates on a tray with two glasses of orange juice and returned to the bedroom. Santana was now sleeping in fetal position, so it took some effort, but Brittany still managed to put a plate right under her nose, knowing that this was her best bet to get her to wake up anytime soon.

Sure enough the smell caused Santana to open her eyes shortly, and after a flash of confusion about not waking up in her own bed, her expression turned into a big smile. "You made me breakfast?" she exclaimed, "you're the best!"

"I know," Brittany shrugged modestly, winking at Santana. She crawled back under the covers, and they ate their breakfast in a comfortable silence. When their plates were empty, Santana said: "that was really awesome, Britt, thanks."

"Wanna know how you could really thank me?" Brittany asked playfully, "with a kiss!" Santana rose up to the challenge, unexpectedly straddling Brittany and attacking her with open-mouthed kisses.

Their make-out session soon got pretty heavy, heavier than what they had been doing before. Santana's hands were exploring under Britt's shirt, and Brittany's hands were firmly cupping her ass. They kept going, their kisses getting more heated all the time. Eventually Santana moved her hand to Brittany's pants, trying to sneak it in.

"San," Brittany breathed, "we should stop." "Why?" Santana said, sounding a little hurt, "it's nothing we haven't done before." "We should wait," Brittany said, "have a couple more dates. I wanna do this right, San, this means too much to me to screw it up."

"How could sex screw this up?" Santana asked, a little angry now. "Do you not want to sleep with me?" Before Brittany could answer, Santana said: "are you not attracted to me anymore because I'm pregnant?" She had tears in her eyes now.

"No, San, that's not it!" Brittany exclaimed. That couldn't be further from the truth actually. Santana's boobs had started growing, and Brittany often found herself struggling not to stare at them, feeling like a hormonal teenage boy.

But Santana wasn't listening anymore, her ever-present insecurities combined with the pregnancy hormones had her beyond rational thinking at this point, and she was furiously pulling on last night's dress. As soon as she had gotten it over her head, she stormed from the room, tearfully screaming "bye, Brittany, have a great day" in the process. A few seconds later, Brittany heard the front door slam shut.

* * *

She sighed deeply, and let herself fall back on the bed. This was so not how she had imagined today would turn out.

* * *

All right, here are my questions:

1. Should the baby be a boy or a girl? I was originally planning on it being a boy, but I've already had three people ask me for a girl, so I might be convinced to change my mind if more people want it to be a girl! If you want it to be boy, let me know too! :)

2. Do you guys like the balance between flashbacks and the present? Or do you want more of one or the other? Just let me know, and I'll keep your opinions in mind!

That's all for now! See you soon!


	10. Making things right

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry it's been a while! I've been really busy… Anyways, I really wanted to give you guys something, but the second half of the flashback is missing. I will try and write it sometime this week, and I'll post it separately. And then hopefully next weekend, I'll be able to give you guys a full length chapter.

This is kind of a slow chapter, but I feel that it is important to give you enough insight into their personalities, and not just stick to the baby stuff. I hope you guys like it! The pregnancy storyline will pick up next chapter though!

* * *

It had been 36 hours since Santana had stormed from Brittany's apartment. 36 hours in which Brittany had called Santana 23 times. Santana hadn't answered once, and Brittany was getting desperate. She hoped that Santana – and she was relying on how Santana would act when they were teenagers – that Santana was just too embarrassed to make peace, that she wasn't angry anymore, but that she preferred stubbornly hiding, hoping that ignoring a problem long enough would make it go away.

Brittany didn't want to consider the other option. The thought of Santana still being mad at her, especially over something that was a big misunderstanding, killed her.

For the past 36 hours Brittany hadn't been doing much except for calling Santana and moping around her apartment. That's probably why the sound of the doorbell startled her so much. "Santana," her thoughts immediately soared, but she didn't dare hope too much.

That turned out to be a good thing, because it wasn't Santana but Kurt. "Hi there Brittany, can I come in?" The boy politely asked. Brittany reluctantly opened the door. Her place was a mess and so was she, and the only person she wanted to see was Santana.

"Come in. Sorry about the mess." Kurt looked at her sympathetically and went to sit down on the couch. "Did Santana send you?" Brittany asked. She wasn't sure what she wanted the answer to be.

"No," Kurt said. Brittany deflated. Maybe she had wanted the answer to have been yes.

"I was in the neighborhood, so I decided to come over and help you two along. I don't know what happened here, but I know that Santana came home really upset. I was getting ready to come over to put you in your place, but the next morning she looked more guilty than anything else, so I assumed you both did something. Santana is stubborn, Brittany, you know that better than I do. And you also know that she's not exactly great at expressing emotions. So she refuses to deal with issues, with herself and with other people. So she's not going to just answer the phone for a long heartfelt conversation, Britt. Because that means admitting that she was wrong, _and_ talking about her feelings, two things she doesn't do well. But I think if you come over, and she has no choice but to talk and listen, you guys can figure this out. "

Brittany was a little annoyed. With Kurt for telling her stuff she already knew, and with herself for not realizing sooner that going to see Santana would indeed be her best shot at making this right. At least he cared about Santana. "Thanks, Kurt, I think you're right," she smiled at him without conviction. "I'm not gonna go with you though, that would be really obvious."

"I'm not heading home right now, so you can go. Rachel is out too." From the look on Kurt's face, Brittany was pretty sure Kurt had made her leave the apartment. She jumped up from the couch and headed to the door. "Uhm, Britt, no offence, but you might wanna shower and stuff before you, you know, go and get your girl," Kurt grimaced. Brittany looked down at herself. A pair of sweat pants that must have once been Santana's, because they were at least three inches too short, and an oversized shirt with syrup stains. Not her most flattering look. And she couldn't even see the state of her hair, probably a good thing.

"None taken, you're right," Brittany grinned at Kurt. Her mood had instantly lifted now that there was a plan of action. She said bye to Kurt and headed to the bathroom. After showering and putting on a pair of jeans, a red – Santana's favorite color – tank top and her converse sneakers, she headed to the kitchen and made herself a quick sandwich. She couldn't remember what her last meal had been, and she needed her strength to deal with Santana.

* * *

"Showtime," Brittany thought to herself as she rang the bell to Santana's apartment. "Hello?" Santana's voice came through the intercom. She sounded hesitant, probably wasn't expecting anybody. Now, this was the tricky part. Brittany really hoped San would let her in.

"San, it's me. Can I come in please?" No reaction. Brittany felt as if her heart stood still. Then the buzzer, opening the door, sounded. Relieved, Brittany walked in, and started the seven story trek upstairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator.

She was barely out of breath when she made it to Santana's floor, once an athlete, always an athlete, but she took a moment to collect herself nonetheless. Finally, she knocked once, and opened the door.

Santana was sitting on the couch, looking positively miserable. Her outfit resembled the one Brittany had been in until about an hour before, and she looked exhausted. "Babe, have you been eating?" Brittany couldn't help but ask, her thoughts immediately going to the baby.

"Rachel made me," Santana mumbled. "Remind me to thank her later," Brittany said. Santana smiled weakly at her, and then an uncomfortable silence fell. Brittany sat down about two feet away from Santana, which felt unnatural, but she didn't want to overstep.

All of a sudden, they both started talking at the same time. They stopped, and giggled nervously. "You go first," Brittany said graciously. She desperately wanted to apologize to Santana, but she knew how difficult it would be for her girlfriend to say what she wanted to say, so she let her go first.

"Britt, I'm sorry I overreacted. It's just, this pregnancy thing is making me crazy. Even crazier than usual," she smiled wryly. Brittany fought the urge to cuddle her and to assure her she wasn't crazy, because even if Santana was sort of joking, there was always some sort of self-judgment involved.

"I've been thinking about what you said, about waiting, and I understand." Santana was now playing with the blanket that covered her feet, avoiding Brittany's eyes. When she didn't immediately continue, Brittany took her chance and jumped in. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like I didn't want you San, I really am, because the opposite is true. Every time I see you I have the urge to just jump you and…" Her voice trailed off as she realized this wasn't the direction she wanted the conversation to go into.

"I just want to show you that this is real to me. That I respect you. That I'm not gonna treat you like those guys did in college, like that Helena bitch did. This is it for me, Santana, I see my future with you. With you and this baby. So I think we can take the time to lay some foundations before we jump into sex." She trailed off again. "Jumping into sex, that sounds kind of weird…"

"Britt," Santana interrupted her train of thought. Brittany looked up at her, and to her surprise she saw that Santana had tears in her eyes. "You have no idea how much that means to me, Britt, no one has ever said anything to me like that." She was fully crying now, and Brittany felt angry at all the people that had hurt Santana in some way, that hadn't shown her the respect she deserved.

"Then none of them ever deserved you Santana," she said, sounding firm. "Now come here." She opened her arms, and Santana snuggled into her. Finally Brittany felt like she could breathe fully again. They sat in silence for a while, Santana letting out the occasional sniffle. After a while, she sat up, wiping her eyes. "I love you, Brittany," she said, looking at the floor. Brittany's heart soared. They would work on the eye contact though. "I love you too ,Santana, and I'm gonna take care of you and our baby. Always. Now how about you go take a shower, and I'll order us some food, and then we can just snuggle and watch a movie or something, does that sound good?"

Santana finally looked at her, and the trust in her eyes was unwavering. "Yeah, babe, that sounds great." And Brittany once again knew that she would never ever abandon Santana again.

* * *

A/N 2: Thanks to everybody who reviewed last time! It means so much to me, and I hope that you will continue to react, 'cause it really helps me, and I try to take into account what you guys say! On that note, snixxjuice214 , I will include some college days-flashbacks, good idea! I just love writing about kid San and Britt so much, I get caught up in that :)

CarlyDanielle, I will try and do that, not as easy as it sounds though, I'll think about it.

You guys can still let me know what you want the baby to be! Haven't decided yet and there is no clear consensus so far, so I need your votes!


	11. Lost and found

A/N: Hi there! Just a quick little update for now, as promised. I'll probably post the next chapter on Sunday, but I can't promise anything.

Thanks again for the reviews and alerts! I hope to keep hearing from all of you!

This is the continuation of the Disney World flashback. I hope you guys like it. Sorry for those of you who don't care as much about the flashbacks, but we'll definitely be back to the present next chapter!

Enjoy!

* * *

"Shit," Leroy whispered. He pried Rachel's hand from his and put it into Hiram's. "Go find an employee or something," he said hurriedly, "I'll try and go after her". Hiram looked at him dumbfounded. "Move," he said, annoyed at his husband's slowness. His cop instincts were kicking in now. He took off attempting to run, but the crowd was too thick. A tiny seven-year-old could move through it easily enough, but not him. People who noticed the desperate look in his eyes tried to give him space, but no one had really anywhere to move to. Since Leroy knew it would take him a while to get to start looking for Santana properly, he occupied himself trying to figure out where she would go.

He thought back to about a year ago, when he had found her in the walk-in closet of the house she then lived in. She had been hiding behind a bunch of business suits, having crammed herself in the tiniest space imaginable. He should probably look for small spaces then. But this was Disney World, and it was dark out. How was he supposed to find her? He should have known staying to watch the fireworks was a bad idea. The combination of big crowds, tiredness and loud noises should have had them knowing better. But that wasn't going to help him now. He needed to focus on getting her back.

Finally having made his way out of the mass of people still watching the fireworks, he took a deep breath, trying to decide if he should go left or right. Left, he instinctively decided, because the fireworks were being lit up on the right, and surely she would have tried to get away from the noise. If he picked the right side, she couldn't be too far off. Sure, she may have been able to get out of the crowd quickly, but her short legs weren't going to carry her very far.

He started walking, looking out for hiding spaces that might have appealed to his daughter. After about five minutes, he realized that he was walking past the spot where they had seen Ariel earlier in the day. He smiled to himself unconsciously, she had been so excited. Suddenly he noticed a flash of pink coming from under a nearby bush. He exhaled loudly in relief. Santana had been wearing a pink shirt with white polka dots that day. Apparently she had recognized the place too, and had considered it a good spot to hide.

Leroy crouched down carefully, making sure not to touch Santana. "Hey there, baby girl," he said in a soothing voice. No response. He frowned, taking a closer look at her face. He realized that she wasn't in the moment with him, she was reliving part of that fateful day a year ago. "Santana can you hear me?" Not being able to touch her – that would just make things worse – his voice was the only means he had to get her back to the present.

"Honey, it's me, daddy," he tried again, not fairing any better. He looked her straight into the eye, even though hers were unseeing, and said: "You're safe now, Lulu, I'm here." Lulu was the nickname Rachel had bestowed on Santana after about a month of living with the Berries. None of them remembered where she had gotten it, but it had stuck.

Leroy was relieved to notice that hearing the nickname Santana hadn't yet received a year ago, seemed to work. The girl blinked slowly, and her body that had previously been shaking, stilled. "There you are, bug," he said gently, and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear to check if she was okay with being touched yet. Seeing that she let him do it, he crouched down even more, so he could pick her up. He easily scooped her in his arms, hugging her close. He wanted to tell her to do never run away again, and how scared he had been, but he knew she was physically and mentally exhausted, so talking would have to wait. Right now she just needed her parents' comfort.

Thankfully the fireworks had ended, and the crowd had already largely dispersed, so Leroy started walking back in the direction they had come from, and called Hiram to tell him Santana was okay. His husband picked up on the first ring, and was beyond relieved to hear the good news. They agreed on a meeting place and hung up.

When they had made their way back to Hiram and Rachel, Santana was transferred to her other parent, who was similarly aching to just hug her close and never let go again. Leroy sensed that Rachel needed some comfort too, and lifted her up. The dads then each carried a daughter all the way back to the hotel room, Santana falling asleep on the way there. The distress had obviously taken its toll.

Once they were in the room, they quickly tucked both girls in, and went into the bathroom to talk. They were all sharing a room, and they didn't want to keep Rachel awake. Before they could even acknowledge the reality of what had happened and how lucky they had been to find her so quickly, a loud scream startled them. Santana was having a nightmare. When she had first moved in, the nightmares had been very frequent, but they had gradually lessened, and now they were virtually gone, until today.

The men sighed, making their way back into the bedroom, both hoping tonight's events wouldn't turn into a major setback. They managed to wake her up, and eventually got her to go back to sleep, stroking her hair lightly. When Rachel had finally fallen back asleep too, the men decided to call it a day, and go to bed. They would just have to wait and see what the effects would be.

The next morning though, to everyone's surprise, Santana was back to the cheerful girl she had become in the past few months, chatting excitedly about their plans for the day during breakfast. Leroy and Hiram decided to just go with it, and simply agreed to keep a closer eye on her. They would talk with her therapist when they got back, and just try and enjoy their vacation for now.

The next three days passed without any incidents worth mentioning. The girls were back to squabbling every now and then, and they got soaking wet one afternoon during a sudden rain storm, but other than that they had a great time, and before they knew it, the dads were paying for a boat load of souvenirs, some for the girls, some for Kurt and Brittany.

* * *

The Berries had survived their first vacation as a family of four.


	12. It's getting real now

A/N: Hi there! Here's a new chapter! I hope you guys all like it!

Enjoy and please review!

* * *

As soon as Brittany woke up she felt a tingle of excitement, even though her brain hadn't caught up with her yet, so she didn't immediately remember what there was to be excited about. Soon she knew though, the doctor's appointment! They had to go in for an echography today. Santana was now fourteen weeks pregnant. This wasn't usually a time at which women went in for an echo, but after her miscarriage scare, Santana's pregnancy had been followed up a lot more closely than regular cases.

If everything looked good today though, they would officially be declared in the safe, and Santana would be treated as a regular patient from here on out. Brittany hadn't been able to go with Santana for her previous echo, because she had had a compulsory class. Therefore, she was very excited about this one.

"Wake up, Sannie," Brittany said loudly, poking Santana in the arm. No reaction, of course. She nuzzled Santana's cheek with her nose, hoping that would help. Still nothing. She didn't want to resort to the glass of water technique, but they had to get up and get ready if they didn't want to be late.

Suddenly she remembered that they were at Santana's place, because that was closer to the doctor's office. Rachel and Kurt might be making breakfast. She grinned, remembering how easily she had gotten Santana to wake up with a plate of French toast the other day.

She got out of bed, not before pressing a firm kiss to Santana's nose, and made her way to the kitchen, where sure enough, Rachel was making pancakes. They were of course vegan, but they would have to do.

"Morning," Brittany chirped cheerfully. "Good morning Brittany," Rachel said, looking down at her legs disapprovingly. Brittany suddenly remembered that she was wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of panties. Oh well, Rachel could deal.

"Hey Rachie," she said with the sweetest smile she could muster. "What?" Rachel said, not sounding too friendly. "I need to borrow one of your pancakes. They look delicious." Despite the fact that Brittany always insisted that all vegan food was gross, Rachel didn't get suspicious at this statement, but, easily flattered, just beamed. "Thank you Brittany," she said, sounding a lot more enthusiastic all of a sudden. "How can you borrow a pancake though?" She asked. With Brittany you never knew.

"I meant it figuratively of course," Brittany said, rolling her eyes as if that was obvious. The truth was that she would probably end up throwing it out, because Santana claimed that her baby hated vegan food. Best excuse ever. Still, she hoped that the smell of it, which wasn't bad, would be enough to wake Santana up.

"Go ahead," Rachel relented. "Thanks!" Brittany exclaimed, grabbing a pancake, not bothering with a plate, which earned her another disapproving glare from Rachel, but she didn't notice, already halfway back to Santana's room.

"Sannie bear, I got something for you," she whispered in her girlfriend's ear, waving the pancake around under her nose. Sure enough, Santana soon stirred. "What's that awful smell?" she asked, crinkling her nose. Santana sat up and Brittany looked in horror as she saw her face turn a sickly shade of green. Oh no, she thought, eyes darting around the room for a trashcan, knowing Santana would never make it to the bathroom in time.

She put it under Santana just in time as the girl started vomiting. Brittany couldn't do anything but hold her hair back and stroke her back, feeling very guilty. Maybe the baby really didn't like vegan food.

When she was done, Santana immediately started whining. She was downright offended that her morning sickness hadn't completely subsided the day she had hit the twelve-week mark. She hadn't been sick often since, but it still happened occasionally, and Santana was not happy about it.

"Relax, honey," Brittany tried, "I'm sure it'll be over soon." Santana didn't seem to think that deserved an answer and got up announcing that she was going to take a shower.

* * *

45 minutes later, both girls were ready to go. Santana hadn't eaten anything, which had saved them some time, but worried Brittany slightly. Santana skipped breakfast on pretty much a daily basis, and never seemed all that hungry for lunch or dinner either… She decided that she would ask the doctor today.

A short subway ride later, the girls were in front of the office building. Their doctor was Dr. Montgomery. She had been Santana's doctor at the hospital, but she also worked for a private practice that was located midtown, and had offered to take Santana on as a patient for the rest of her pregnancy. Since Santana had liked her, which wasn't that common an occurrence for her, she had agreed.

After a short wait, they entered the examination room. Brittany squeezed Santana's hand reassuringly as the doctor had her sit down on the table. She knew Santana was more nervous about this than she was letting on.

"All right, try and relax Miss Berry," doctor Montgomery said. "I will if you call me Santana," the brunette replied. Brittany was surprised that there wasn't any of her usual sarcasm laced in her voice. Santana's name was officially Santana Lopez Berry, but since dr. Montgomery had first talked to Rachel back at the hospital, she was apparently under the assumption that it was okay to call Santana miss Berry. Which it wasn't. Santana loved her adopted family from the bottom of her heart, but being called Santana Berry was simply something she could not deal with. That's the only reason she usually kept referring to herself as Santana Lopez. Not that that name held many positive associations for the girl, but at least it didn't sound ridiculous.

"Okay, Santana," the doctor indulged her, smiling, "here we go." The girls unconsciously took a deep breath at the exact same time, causing Brittany to erupt in nervous giggling. As soon as an image came up on the screen though, she turned serious, trying to figure out what they were looking at. After a little while, they started hearing a small but steady thumping. "That's the baby's heartbeat!" Dr Montgomery said cheerfully.

Brittany suddenly got tears in her eyes. This felt really real. Even more real than Santana throwing up every day for weeks on end. In less than six months they would be parents. She looked up and saw Santana smiling at her lovingly, tears in her eyes as well.

"Everything is looking good, girls," the doctor interrupted their moment, although hearing this, they didn't mind. "It is however a bit small for fourteen weeks," she added, frowning slightly. "Are you eating enough Santana? And are you taking your vitamins?"

"I am," Santana responded, "but I'm still throwing up, and I just don't really have an appetite." "She skips breakfast," Brittany interrupted. "Britt," Santana interrupted, but dr. Montgomery took over. "Santana you can't be skipping meals, all right, you need your strength, and the baby needs to grow. Brittany, I am putting you in charge of making sure she eats three full meals a day, plus some snacks in between. You'll just have to find something that you can eat, Santana," she said rather sternly. "However," she added, reassuringly, "the nausea should subside really soon now, and most women find it a lot easier to eat once they're past that stage."

"All right," Santana said politely. "Okay then," the doctor said. "I'd like to see you again in about six weeks. You can schedule an appointment with the secretary. I'll also give you some pictures to take home with you. And I can't promise you anything, but with some luck we'll be able to see the baby's sex by then, that is, if you want."

"Yes!" Santana exclaimed. She really hoped it would be a girl, but if she were having a boy, she wanted some time to get used to the idea. Brittany's giggles pulled her from her thoughts. "What are you laughing about, Britt?" she asked her girlfriend. "I was just thinking about the baby, if it is anywhere near as stubborn as you are, we won't know its sex till long after it's born!"

Santana glared at her, "I am not stubborn!" she said. "Sure you aren't babe," Brittany answered indulgently, "then why do you always get your way?" "Because you let me have it," Santana grinned triumphantly. Brittany grumbled slightly in defeat.

The doctor couldn't help but laugh at the young girls' antics. She had taking quite a liking to the pair of them. "All right, ladies," she said, "I'll see you soon. Brittany, you take good care of that girl for me, all right?" "Yes ma'am," Brittany answered solemnly, "I swear I will."

* * *

_Santana was at Brittany's house again. Brittany wasn't complaining, because Santana was her bestest friend, but she was starting to wonder why her mom let her have Santana over so often. None of her siblings' friends was here three of four times a week. She decided not to question it though, because it might make her mom change her mind._

_The girls were playing soccer with the twins again, but Brittany's dad wasn't playing this time, and the boys were being mean. The yard was all muddy, because it had rained a lot lately, and they were purposefully trying to get the girls dirty._

_Eventually Brittany had had enough, and she pulled Santana inside. Her mom was in the kitchen, doing dishes. "Hi mom, the boys are being meanies, so me and San are gonna go watch a movie now, okay?" Brittany asked._

_"Girls, you're all muddy, no way I'm letting you sit on my couch like that, I'm going to have to give you a bath first, come on, let's get going," Brittany's mom sighed, slightly annoyed. She was really looking forward to relaxing with a cup of coffee for fifteen minutes. With five children, those occasions were rare though. "Britt, did the boys get you guys this dirty?" Helen asked, reminding herself to reprimand the boys later. "Yes, they did," Brittany pouted, "we had so much fun last time, and now they were being poopy!" Helen suppressed a laugh, "language, baby," she said._

_Brittany grinned at her innocently. That girl was too charming for her own good. All this time Santana had been quiet, as usual, silently following the mother and daughter pair. Helen noticed that she was sucking her thumb, something she had never seen her do before when she was awake. She frowned lightly, sure six was too old to be doing that, right? She decided it wasn't her place to say anything though._

_"Okay girls, get undressed, I'll put some nice bubbles in the tub, all right?" She asked them playfully. They both loved bubble baths. "Yes please!" Brittany screamed excitedly, throwing her muddy clothes everywhere. Santana didn't respond. Helen looked up from the tub, and saw that she hadn't begun taking her clothes off yet. "Come on, honey," she encouraged her, "you want to take a bath with Britty, don't you?"_

_Santana silently shook her head, thumb still in her mouth. "You don't?" Brittany asked her, confused. They had had baths before, and she remembered Santana loving them, even talking to her mother while they were in the tub, something she usually didn't really do._

_"But honey, you're all muddy," Helen tried. Santana shook her head again. "Please?" Brittany asked, already in the tub. "You'll feel better after!" Santana had been sort of quiet all afternoon, even to her._

_Eventually Santana started to get undressed, tugging at her clothes hesitantly. "Let me help you," Helen said, reaching out to touch her, but Santana flinched violently. "Okay, you can do it," Helen said, wondering what was going on. When Santana was finally done, Helen couldn't help but gasp, and she heard Brittany do the same._

_The girl had big scratches on her back that looked like welts, her arms were covered in what looked like finger shaped bruises, and her thighs were bruised as well. "What happened?" came Brittany's innocent question. "I fell," Santana whispered. Brittany was visibly confused, trying to add things up._

_Helen didn't know what was going on, but she sure as hell knew that Santana's injuries did not stem from a fall. Santana must have noticed her questioning expression, because she began to panic._

_"I have to go home," she said determinedly, pulling her clothes back on. "I just remembered, my mom told me to be home early." "Sweetie, I can't take you right now", Helen said, wanting answers. "I'll walk," Santana said, already getting ready to leave. "Your house is three miles from here, Santana," Helen pleaded, "and it's getting dark out. You can't go home by yourself. I'll take you later."_

_Santana's eyes were wide, darting frantically around the room. "I have to go," she repeated, and left the room. "Wait, honey," Helen said, reaching out again, but this had the opposite effect, as Santana began to sprint, jumping down the stairs, and out of the door, slamming it shut._

_Brittany still stood up straight in the tub, crying now. "What is going on, mommy?" she said. "I don't know, baby," the woman answered, "I don't know." She helped Brittany to sit down in the tub and left the room. She did the only thing she could think of, knowing she should have done it a lot sooner, should have trusted her mother's instincts. She knew something was off about that girl. But it was too late now. She called Leroy Berry. He would know what to do, and how to find a six-year-old wandering around by herself. In the dark._


	13. Changes

A/N: Hi there! Sorry it's been a while since I updated, but here's a brand new chapter! I hope you'll like it, please let me know what you think! You can also PM me if you have questions (about the flashabacks I'd imagine).

Enjoy!

Also, there's another question for you guys at the bottom!

* * *

At eighteen weeks pregnant, Santana was finally starting to feel comfortable with her changing body. She had accepted that for the time being she was not as strong as usual, and she had started to see the perks, shamelessly letting herself be spoilt by Brittany, and guilting Kurt and Rachel into doing the same.

She would spend long afternoons – it was winter and she didn't currently have a job – curled up on the couch, with her feet in her girlfriend's or friends' lap, meanwhile softly cradling her growing baby bump. She was utterly surprised at how much she enjoyed those calm moments. Santana would nap on and off, watching trashy reality shows when she was awake, while whoever was with her worked on one of their things.

Brittany had to design an entire house as a graduation project, Rachel was auditioning for several on and off Broadway shows, spending a lot of time on learning lines, and Kurt worked as an intern for a fashion magazine, but wrote his own blog in his free time.

She occasionally panicked a little because they were all so firmly working towards their goals and dreams while she was currently quite literally doing nothing at all, but she reassured herself with the knowledge that her college degree wasn't going anywhere, and she'd be out in the real world soon enough. Besides, making a baby was hard work. At least what Brittany told her to assuage her doubts, while feeding her cookie dough ice cream.

* * *

Her and Brittany were also taking big leaps in their relationship. Santana slept at Brittany's place on a regular basis, and they had started planning how they would decorate the nursery, as well as thinking about how and where they would fit Santana's stuff once she would be ready to move in.

About two weeks earlier, they had had sex for the first time. Beforehand, they had both been reluctant to talk about it, afraid to argue about it again. But they had been spending so much time together, being ever more intimate, and one night it had just been the natural progression of the make out sessions they'd been having for weeks.

They had both gone to Brittany's place one night, after having gone to see a movie, and they had gotten ready for bed like they always did. Their regular goodnight kiss, however, turned into passionate making out, and minutes later they had both been left in nothing but a pair of panties. Brittany, who was being straddled by Santana, had let her hand graze the waist band of Santana's panties, and upon hearing the resulting whimper escape the brunette's mouth, she had locked their gazes, and saw such trust and lust in Santana's eyes that she had decided they were ready.

She had hooked her fingers into Santana's panties, who lifted herself off of Brittany for second so she could fully remove them. Santana rode two of her fingers, while she – not bothering to remove Brittany's boy shorts – plunged her fingers into Brittany at the same time. Her angle was slightly awkward, but a well-placed thumb caused Brittany to fall over the edge incredibly quickly, Santana following seconds later.

It had been familiar and so very new all at once, and both shed tears afterwards, Santana almost hyperventilating, because she hadn't had the chance to catch her breath yet.

Brittany carefully positioned Santana so that her girlfriend's head was on her chest, and the sound of Brittany's heartbeat soon calmed her down. They silently lay there basking in the after-glory, when Santana finally broke the seriousness of the moment, when she yawningly muttered: "well I guess it really is like riding a bike," promptly falling asleep as soon as the words left her mouth.

Brittany covered them both up, smirking to herself. There was nothing like a good orgasm when it came to shutting Santana up. She ran her fingers through her girlfriend's hair, soon lulling herself to sleep from the soothing motion.

* * *

After that night they had sort of become insatiable, and Rachel and Kurt suffered the brunt of that when they hung out at what still was Santana's place. After the pair of them had walked in on Brittany and Santana going at it in the middle of the living room, Brittany had carefully explained that they needed to get as much sex in before the baby was born, grossing them out even further.

After that afternoon, they did stop having sex in the living room though, because Santana decided near-exhibitionism wasn't her thing. The other reason was that Rachel had threatened that Brittany wouldn't be allowed in anymore if she caught her 'defiling her baby sister' one more time. Her words.

* * *

Brittany had also started to introduce her friends to Santana, delighted to see that most of them were a good match, especially because she had found out that Santana was sorely lacking in the friends department. She had Kurt and Rachel, and Quinn, but she was in California, so on a day to day basis that didn't mean that much, and that was pretty much it.

She had had a lot of acquaintances in college, mostly on the cheerleading team, but Santana's insecurities had always made her stand off-ish – or downright bitchy – so none of those relationships ran very deep.

Brittany was sad to realize this, and although she recognized the importance of not joining their entire lives together –she'd still hang out with her friends without Santana occasionally – she also wanted Santana to experience the relaxed feel of hanging with a group of people you could be yourself around.

She was pleasantly surprised when Santana let down her guard relatively quickly after meeting her friends, and she wondered if it was because most of them were gay – she knew Santana still wasn't a hundred percent comfortable with their relationship when they were with strangers – or because she knew that Brittany trusted these people, therefore inferring that she could do the same thing. Brittany hoped it was the latter, but didn't bother bringing it up – letting peace be where peace was.

They'd get together one night a week – usually at Brittany's place, because they were still in school and most of them lived in crappy studios – eat pizza and have a couple beers, occasionally playing board games, wii games, or poker.

Brittany enjoyed the new respect she got from her friends as well. She was now by far in the most serious relationship out of all of them, and even though after she would tuck Santana in in their bed – her pregnancy wearing her down significantly – they'd all make fun of her, telling her Santana had her wrapped around her little finger, Brittany knew they envied the genuine happiness they shared. It didn't hurt that Santana was hot as hell either.

It was on those nights that Brittany noticed just how happy Santana looked, laughing uninhibitedly, bantering with Brittany's friends like she had known them all her life, and she couldn't help but be grateful that they had somehow both gotten out of the rotten town they had grown up in and had gotten this chance to start over and be free.

* * *

_Leroy Berry lay awake in bed, for the umpteenth time. Ever since their last big operation at work he had been having trouble sleeping. He was usually pretty good at leaving work at work, but this time things had been different._

_What had started out as a small lead on a local drugs cartel, had soon led to bigger discoveries involving a large criminal network that spread all the way around Ohio. They had worked together with the federal services, and recently the case had come to a dramatic close. Three of their men had been injured, and they'd had no choice but to kill one of the guys involved in the case, unfortunately severely injuring his wife in the process._

_Despite the mess, they had been successful, but still he lay awake at night, unable to get the image of deep coffee brown eyes staring at him out of his head._

_He had been having this nagging thought at the back of his head; it was right there but he couldn't put his finger on it. He had a feeling though that it had something to do with the conversation he and Hiram had recently had with Rachel, who was wondering why she didn't have any siblings._

_He felt like it was all pretty obvious, but he was missing a crucial piece of the puzzle. Frustrated, he turned around once more, and finally, though unsatisfied, managed to fall asleep._

* * *

_Brittany sat alone in her back yard, playing with some strands of grass. She wasn't having a good time though, she was sad. She had been sad for a long time now, it felt like. Ever since Santana had stopped coming to school, it had become impossible for Brittany to have fun like she did when Santana was still around._

_Her mother did everything she could to cheer her up, making her favorite foods, letting her watch as much T.V. as she wanted, pouring bubbles in her bath every single night, but nothing worked. Nothing was fun without Santana._

* * *

_She didn't know where her Sannie was, no one wanted to tell her, but one thing was for sure: she needed her back._

* * *

A/N2: here's the question: should they mention/think about marriage at all, before the baby is born, or is it way too soon for that? Let me know!


	14. Revelations

A/N: here's a new chapter for you guys! Thank you so much for your continuous support, it means a lot to me! Don't worry, marriage plans are put off until later, you're right, it's too early. I'm not really sure about this chapter, not my best I think, but I hope you guys will like it.. Please do let me know what you think!

Enjoy!

* * *

_When Brittany woke up, the bed felt warm, but also wet. Confused she opened her eyes. She turned on the light and threw of her duvet, quickly discovering a wet patch. Santana was still sleeping soundly, but Brittany could tell her nightgown was wet._

_Did Santana have an accident? Brittany was confused. That had never happened before Santana had disappeared. Not knowing what else to do, she got out of the bed to go get her mother. The movement, however, woke Santana up, and the girl caught on to what had happened immediately._

_To Brittany's surprise, Santana started crying straight away. "I'm sorry, Britt," the distraught girl sobbed incoherently, I didn't mean to!" "I know that, silly, it's okay, it was just an accident." Usually calling Santana silly didn't bother her, but tonight she was apparently more sensitive, because she started crying harder, and hugged her knees to her chest, hiding her face._

_Brittany was very perceptive though, and realized straight away that Santana hadn't understood it as playful. She put her little hand on Santana's back and said earnestly: "I'm sorry Sannie, you're not silly, please don't cry, it's gonna be okay."_

_Brittany knew that what she was going to say next wasn't going to make Santana happy, but she knew she had no other choice, they couldn't go back to sleep in the wet bed, and both of their pajamas were wet._

_"Sannie?" she whispered, but got no reaction. "I'm gonna get mommy okay?" "No!" Santana exclaimed, looking at Brittany with wide eyes, "you can't tell her! She's gonna be so mad!"_

_Brittany was confused for the second time that night. Why would her mommy be mad? It was just an accident, right? "She's not gonna be mad, Sannie, I promise."_

* * *

_It was the middle of the night when Helen Pierce was woken up by someone tugging on her arm. Reluctantly she opened her eyes, finding it was Brittany who was standing at her bedside. "Mommy," the girl whispered, visibly upset, "what's the matter, sweetheart?" Helen asked, now wide awake, and in alert-mom mode._

_"It's Santana," Brittany whispered, "she's had an accident, and she's crying." Helen sighed. This was the girls' first sleepover since Santana had moved in with the Berries, and although they had warned her that the girl occasionally got really bad nightmares, they hadn't told her anything about bedwetting._

_"Mommy?" Brittany said, breaking her thoughts. "What, baby?" "You're not mad, right?" "Of course not, sweetheart, why would I be mad?" "I don't know, but Sannie thinks you're going to be mad, that's why she's so upset."_

_"Don't worry, Britt, I'm not mad, and I'll tell her that, okay?" Helen said, wrapping her robe around her. They walked to Brittany's bedroom, which was flooded in light, but Helen didn't see Santana anywhere. "Where is she, baby?" she asked, panicking slightly. Brittany merely pointed her finger, Santana had tucked herself in the corner of the room, hidden from sight by Brittany's dresser._

_"Hey, Britt, why don't you get some new pajamas for you and San and wait for us in the bathroom, all right?" Brittany reluctantly nodded, she wanted to stay with Santana, but she obeyed her mom nonetheless._

_Helen crouched and approached the crying girl, her heart breaking at Santana's obvious distress. "Hey honey, can you look at me?" she asked in a soft voice. Santana, who was looking down at the floor, shook her head. "I'm not mad, sweetie, it was just an accident. Accidents happen, right?"_

_Santana shrugged. "All right, then, why don't we get you in the tub, get you cleaned up? And while you and Brittany play, I'll put some clean sheets on the bed."_

_"At my old house," Santana began, her face pressed into her knees so that Helen hardly heard what she was saying, "they said if I had an accident I had to sleep in the dirty bed, because dirty girls don't deserve clean beds, and I shouldn't be so stupid to wet the bed."_

_Helen literally shivered, imagining what Santana's life had been like, and how clueless she had been about what had been happening right under her nose. Poor child. "They were wrong, sweetheart. You are not a dirty girl, and you are not stupid." She felt like she needed to say more, but she didn't know what._

_Santana hesitantly peered at her from under her bangs. "Do I have to go home now?" she asked, her bottom lip quivering, as if she could burst into tears again any second. Helen didn't understand how Santana could have come to that assumption, but she figured the girl wasn't thinking rationally right now._

_"Of course not, baby. Unless you want to, but I think Britt would be very sad if you left in the middle of your sleepover," she said, trying to keep things a little lighter. "I wanna stay with Britt," Santana said, sounding sure of herself for the first time. "All right, Helen smiled, "how about we go join her in the bathroom then, okay?" Santana nodded and crawled out of her hiding spot._

_Helen filled the bath with water and – to the girls' delight – with bubbles. Once they were settled in, she changed the bed, warily thinking of her husband who had managed to stay asleep this whole time. After she put the sheets in the laundry machine, she went back to the bathroom and smiled at the sight before her eyes._

_The girls were playing cheerfully, neither of them looking like they had a care in the world. She decided to overlook the fact that it was three in the morning, and let them play a couple minutes longer, using the time to quickly check on her other kids. Finding all four of them sleeping peacefully, she returned and announced that bath time was over. She laughed at the identical pouts the girls presented her with, but she drained the tub, and got two fluffy towels._

_Once the girls were dressed, she tucked them in, asking them if they needed a story to fall back asleep. Quickly agreeing on the Little Mermaid, the girls settled in their sleeping positions: Brittany on her back, Santana using Brittany's shoulder as a pillow, and sucking her thumb._

_Five minutes later both girls were asleep, a calm smile on both of their faces. Helen kissed each of them on the forehead, and finally went back to her own bed._

* * *

A couple of weeks later, it was time for Santana's next echo. Both girls were overcome with excitement at the possibility of finding out the baby's sex today. Afterwards, Santana had planned to meet up with Kurt to go shopping for some maternity clothes.

At twenty weeks, her bump seemed to be getting bigger every day, and she no longer fit in the pairs of jeans that she had bought several weeks earlier. They were regular jeans, but she had just gone up a few sizes. Now they were desperately in need of replacement. She also needed more flowy tops. Santana being Santana, her wardrobe mostly consisted of tight dresses and shirts, and she was sick of wearing the more loose-fitting stuff she did own.

The only thing that she actually enjoyed wearing right now, were Brittany's sweatshirts. They were loose enough, and no matter how often she wore them, to her they still smelled like Brittany.

They were currently having breakfast, and Santana was trying to convince Brittany to come shopping with her and Kurt. Brittany hated shopping, and avoided it as much as possible. No that wasn't true, Brittany liked shopping when she did it by herself, but she hated shopping with Santana. Brittany bought everything on impulse, resulting in her quirky style.

Santana, on the other hand, debated ages over every item, and always tried on tons of things she didn't end up buying. However, Santana just wanted to spend as much time with Brittany as possible and she was determined to make that happen. Plus, she was still kind of insecure about how much weight she was gaining, and she needed her girlfriend's reassurance. But she would never tell Brittany that part.

She shortly tried with rational arguments such as "you need to help me pick out my clothes, because you'll be the one seeing me in them". That was quickly cornered by "baby, you have great taste, I'm sure I'll love everything you pick out."

Santana then moved on to the next phase of her convincing-Brittany plan: "I need some new bras too, baby, and I'll be trying them on, don't you want to assist me with that?" Brittany gulped, and Santana saw her resolve wavering. Almost there, she thought to herself, grinning.

The final part of her plan was very simple, but worked almost every time. In fact, Santana was pretty sure that this was actually all that was necessary to get Brittany to do what she wanted. "Please baby?" she said, pouting exaggeratedly and batting her eyelashes.

"Don't make that face," Brittany said, trying to look away. But Santana just made her pout even bigger. Kurt chose that exact moment to walk into the kitchen, rolling his eyes at the familiarity of the scene in front of him.

"Fine, I'll go!" Brittany relented, unable to resist her girlfriend's sad face. She sighed at Santana's satisfied grin, she could practically hear the brunette think "hook, line, and sinker". Why did she fall for this every single time?

Kurt looked at her with pity, "you really make it too easy, Britt. You need to at least pretend that you're not going to give in." "I know," Brittany said, but she wondered to herself if it was really a bad thing to try and make your girlfriend happy. Especially your pregnant girlfriend.

In the meantime Santana had victory danced her way into the bedroom to get ready for their appointment. "Don't worry though," Kurt said, "that pout works on me half of the time. And I'm gay." Brittany giggled. It was true though, Santana Lopez could be pretty damn charming when she wanted to be. She had seen her work that pout on her dads, her sister, on Brittany's siblings, and even on Brittany's dad. The only one who seemed immune to it was Brittany's mom.

* * *

Fifteen minutes and a small clothing crisis later, the girls were ready to go. They once again took a cab to the doctor's office as Santana got tired really fast lately, and she needed some energy for their shopping trip later.

After a short wait they were let into the exam room. They had passed the time by placing their final bets on what they thought the baby's sex was going to be, calling Kurt and Rachel for their final statistic too. Santana and Rachel had both gone with a girl, while Brittany and Kurt thought it would be a boy. The big difference was that Santana and Rachel were very convinced, while Brittany and Kurt just voted because the other two made them.

Santana settled in on the table, while the doctor got the ultrasound ready. "All right, girls, here we go." She spent a couple of minutes moving the wand around on Santana's belly, reassuring them that the baby was doing well, and had grown significantly since their last visit. Both girls let out a relieved sigh. They were very curious about the sex, but at the end of the day, all they really cared about was that their baby would be healthy.

* * *

The doctor continued to stare at the screen, and finally she said: "congratulations guys, you're having a…


	15. Happy problems

A/N: Here's another chapter for you guys, quite fluffy this time around! Sorry about last chapter's cliff hanger, I hadn't quite made my mind up yet :)

Please let me know what you think, and thank you for your support so far, it means a lot to me.

* * *

Brittany sighed. She was exhausted and her head was throbbing. She's been listening to Kurt, Rachel and Santana fighting for about three hours now, and she's done. On top of being fed up with their ridiculous behavior, she's tired of trying to get Santana to calm down. Sometimes Santana forgets just how big a responsibility she has, growing an entire person inside of her, and she doesn't take it as slow as Brittany wants her to. Brittany's sure being on her feet for three hours fighting when she could have been on the couch instead is not smart.

But apparently the way the nursery is going to be decorated is a matter of life and death. The madness started as soon as their doctor told the pair of them that they were having a girl. After the first couple of minutes during which Santana had valiantly tried to choke back happy tears because she had really wanted a girl but felt bad about that (Brittany knew though, she probably knew it more than Santana, but she decided to talk about it later), she had pulled herself back together and immediately called Kurt to confront him with his loss of the bet – her voice laced with false bravura.

She let herself be happy while on the phone with Rachel though, the pair of them deafening Brittany with high-pitched shrieks of excitement, even though Rachel was just on the phone – her voice always had been quite the presence. As soon as she had disconnected the phone though, they were on to the next part of the rollercoaster ride that Santana's emotions were, now even more than usual.

She had reminded Brittany that she owed her twenty bucks with a smirk on her face that thinly veiled her true emotions. Brittany once again let her get away with it – later on they would talk about it – but she knew she really shouldn't allow Santana to play fast and loose with her own emotions like that.

After the whole bet-ordeal – which probably hadn't been the best idea to begin with – the nursery-mayhem had begun. Kurt and Rachel were both very strongly convinced that it was their prerogative and duty to decorate it, Kurt because he was in the fashion world –which as far as Brittany knew didn't equal the interior designing world, but whatever – and Rachel because she was this baby's future aunt and because she had a tendency to want to get involved in anything and everything.

Combined with Santana's perfectionism and indecisiveness, Brittany had very quickly resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn't get a say in what the nursery would look like, even though it was located in the apartment that she owned. Thankfully she was easygoing, and most importantly, at the end of the day she trusted Santana's good taste.

The result though, was that Rachel and Kurt invaded – even though Santana hadn't moved in yet, Brittany could never ever see her as one of the invaders even when she came with them – Brittany's apartment every single weekend to discuss color schemes, fabrics, furniture lay-out and a gazillion other things that largely went over Brittany's head.

The problem was that Kurt's taste was ridiculously extravagant, while Rachel acted all insistent as if she were an expert, and Santana didn't have the first clue about what she wanted, so right now she mainly focused on going against anything Rachel said, just to annoy her.

Brittany hoped that that little game wouldn't go as far as the time Santana had been thirteen and had gotten permission to redecorate her room. Her dads had told her she could paint it any color she wanted and when Rachel had been quick to insert that people didn't paint rooms black Santana had immediately settled on exactly that color, just to aggravate her sister.

She had had black walls for the next five years, because she was too stubborn to tell her dads she hated it. Eventually she had gotten used to it, but Brittany hoped that their nursery's interior wouldn't turn out as something either of them had to get used to. But even though Santana and Rachel were still often obnoxiously childlike in their behavior towards each other, Brittany knew that Santana had matured enough to not go beyond empty threats, just to hear Rachel's undignified gasps.

* * *

Much much later when Rachel and Kurt have finally left, and Brittany's finally gotten Santana onto the couch – her feet propped up on a pillow that Brittany put on the coffee table and her head resting on Brittany's shoulder – and when they are watching Dancing With the Stars, Brittany decides it's time for a little talk.

"Baby?" she asks, looking down at her girlfriend. Santana hmms non-committedly because she is engrossed in a diapers-commercial, but Brittany presses on nonetheless. "Baby, do you actually want Rachel and/or Kurt to decorate the nursery?" Santana tears her gaze away from the T.V. to stare at her fingers playing with the strings of her sweatpants. She shrugs. Brittany can read Santana better than any book, so she knows that means no.

"You have to tell them, baby," she insists gently, "you're stressing about it, and I want you as relaxed as possible." "But they're so excited," Santana mumbles. "I know that baby, but at the end of the day it is our baby and our nursery and we should be the ones happy with what it looks like."

Santana groans, "if we let Kurt have his way our baby's room will look like some Vegas casino, and if it's up to Rachel, it will look like a hospital room covered in gold stars, it's a disaster…" Brittany can't help but smile, both at the visual, and at Santana's reluctance to deny her sister and friend this pleasure, even though what they wanted couldn't be further from what she wanted herself. People used to think Santana was mean, but if she cared about you, she was actually desperate to please you, always afraid of being pushed aside as a result of going against someone's wishes.

"You want me to tell them?" Brittany soothed, playing with Santana's hair. Usually confrontation wasn't really her thing, but when it came to Santana, especially now that she was pregnant, she would do anything to lighten her burden. Santana nodded sheepishly, and although Brittany wasn't looking forward to the confrontation, she was anxious to have her apartment Rachel-and-Kurt-free again on Saturday afternoons and decided to get it over with as soon as possible. "They'll live," she said firmly, in an attempt to reassure both herself and Santana.

"Maybe you could give Alexis a call, you know, and the two of you, or the three of us could go shopping together, she'd love that." Santana's eyes gleamed with excitement at the prospect. She has always adored Alexis, claiming that as far older sisters were concerned, Brittany definitely got the better deal. Brittany knew she couldn't last a day without talking to Rachel, so she sincerely doubted the truth behind that statement, but it was still nice to see Santana brighten up like that, and she inwardly congratulated herself.

Alexis had given birth to a son about a year ago. Even though she lived in Connecticut – close enough that her husband commuted to and from the city every day – Santana hadn't yet seen her since their high school graduation. "I can't believe I hadn't thought of that, Britt," she says, "she'll be able to actually help us." That was definitely true. Alexis had always been the most practical out of all the Pierces, and she was virtually the only young mother Brittany and Santana knew.

"I'll call her right now," Brittany said, kissing Santana on the nose, "you go and get ready for bed, all right?" Brittany wouldn't explicitly call her out on it, but she knew the day had worn her out, so an early night was in order.

Santana groaned, but got up obediently, cradling her baby bump. Brittany grabbed the phone and dialed Alexis' number, while staring at Santana's ass as she made her way to the bathroom, mesmerized. She was so enthralled with the mental image of Santana's ass in a bikini that she didn't realize Alexis had picked up. Thank God for caller-I.D. or Alexis would have been pretty confused. She was pretty used to Brittany's antics (although it was probably for the best that she didn't _exactly_ knew what had Brittany so distracted), so she patiently waited for Brittany's thoughts to return to the phone call.

"Hey baby sis," she said, "what's up?" Brittany came straight to the point, and explained what was going on. As predicted Alexis enthusiastically agreed, and they quickly found a date that would work. They talked about Lucas – Brittany's nephew – and about Santana's pregnancy for a couple minutes before wishing each other good night and hanging up.

Brittany went to tell Santana the good news, endeared by Santana's already sleepy face. It lit up though when Brittany notified her that they would see Alexis on Friday, and they spent the next couple of minutes trading lazy, soft kisses.

Eventually Brittany pulled away and quickly got ready for bed, before getting under the covers with Santana, spooning her so she could put her hands on Santana's belly.  
They were both asleep within minutes.


	16. Expectant bliss

_Hi there guys! I know it's been way too long, and I don't even know if there is anybody still interested, but just in case, here's an update!_

_I know it's short, and I know it's not that great, but I thought this story deserved an update, and this is what I came up with. I will try to update more regularly again, and I hope chapters will get longer, as I get back into the flow of things._

_Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy, and please do let me know what you think, good or bad! Suggestions for baby names are always welcome too, specifically middle names!_

* * *

A couple of weeks later Santana, the baby and the girls' relationship were all flourishing. Brittany had talked to Rachel and Kurt about the nursery, and once she had mentioned that their cooperation had been stressing Santana out, they had backed off straight away.

Santana and Brittany had gone shopping with Alexis, who had brought a positively angelic Lucas with her, and they had had a great day together. What was more, ever since then Santana had gained a new sort of confidence about her pregnancy and impending motherhood, and she had been more relaxed lately.

A quick conference with Alexis had also armed her with all the knowledge she needed to plan for the nursery by herself. She had spent countless hours online, while Brittany was studying or working on her senior project, figuring out what their baby needed to get the very best start in life. She had also spent more hours than Brittany cared to remember pouring over design catalogs, planning the design and the colors they would use.

During the weekend they picked up the stuff that they couldn't order online, and Brittany and some of her friends had spent their last Saturday and Sunday painting the room and putting the big furniture pieces together while Santana had been desperate to help out, and Brittany had been even more desperate to keep her off her feet.

Now they had a gorgeous nursery ready for a baby who wasn't due for another three months. The rooms were painted a soft pink and pastel green, while the furniture was all white, and the bedding was pink with white polka dots. The room was worthy of any little princess, but Brittany hoped the gynecologist hadn't been wrong when she had told them they were having a girl.

The only thing that was still missing was clothes to fill the dressers, but now that the room was done, Brittany was sure that was about to change. They had gotten the first couple of things while out with Alexis, and Santana had proved less hesitant when it came to baby clothes rather than her own. She had fawned over half of what they had seen, and it had required a lot of restriction not to just buy enough to fill two dressers right there and then. With Brittany's capabilities to say no to Santana when she wanted something, this baby was sure to end up with the largest wardrobe any newborn had ever possessed, she figured.

* * *

Santana was also spending more and more of her time at Brittany's apartment, never spending more than one or two nights a week at her own place. Brittany loved her company, and was glad to find out that they didn't get tired of each other. The only downside was that Santana spent hours and hours on the phone with both Rachel and Kurt every day, now that she didn't see them as often.

Brittany was glad that Santana had her sister and her friend to turn to, but the constant yapping occasionally wore her out, especially when Santana put the both of them on speaker phone so all three of them could talk. Well, Santana claimed it was so that all four of them could talk, but Brittany very rarely found herself contributing, preferring to spend her time nursing a beer and admiring Santana's animated smile as she talked.

Anyways, the only thing that kept Santana from moving in permanently was the fact that they had no clue where to put the vast majority of Santana's stuff. Sure, she wasn't planning to take that much from the living room – it wasn't exactly overly full to begin with – but she did have a fully furnished bedroom, including a giant desk, that she was at least sort of attached to. And Heather's apartment wasn't small by any means, but the one spare room it had, had obviously already been appointed a purpose.

So for now, they stuck to the arrangement they had going. Santana went home on Wednesday night, because Brittany had three of her college friends over every week to play poker. She still hung out with Brittany's gang of friends regularly, and all those friends had quickly come to adore her, but Britt's poker night was sort of sacred, so Santana used that night to hang out with Rachel and Kurt, and she would either return on Thursday, or occasionally on Friday, with a load of fresh clothes, and then they would happily return to living together until the following Wednesday.

There was the odd Saturday night when Santana's parents came over for dinner, but they usually ate out, or Brittany, who had at one point spent so much time at the Berries house that she almost felt like a part of the family, would simply come with her.

A little earlier in Santana's pregnancy, they had gone over to Staten Island a couple of times themselves, to visit her dads, but now that she had a very definite bump, Brittany didn't want Santana on the back of her bike anymore.

Santana couldn't say she regretted that decision, because any time they went, Brittany had refused to drive any faster than thirty miles an hour, and although she had once been scared of riding on the back of that very same motor cycle, she now trusted Brittany's driving skills completely, and didn't enjoy crawling down the road at a snail's pace.

* * *

Secretly though, Santana loved how protective Brittany was over her. Because of the fact that Brittany was taller and stronger than Santana she always had been sort of her defender, but ever since she had found out about the baby, it had increased tenfold. Even though some of her restrictions were sort of ridiculous – she wasn't allowed to take the subway by herself, or walk around by herself when it was dark out – but she loved that Brittany cared so much. About the both of them. Even though their girl hadn't even been born yet. And even though Brittany technically had no responsibilities towards this child whatsoever.

She could easily never have accepted the fact that this baby was Puck's, of all people. But instead she had embraced the idea of them becoming parents, _together_, and was just as excited about the baby as Santana was.

The little talks Brittany frequently held with her belly spoke for themselves. Santana just about melted every time from the adorableness that was Brittany telling the baby just how much she loved her already and how well Santana and her were going to take care of her. Santana knew with certainty that she had made the right choice getting back together with Brittany, and even though she would miss her old apartment and roommates, she couldn't wait to move in with her girlfriend permanently.


	17. Cloudy skies

_A/N: Hi there! Thanks for all the alerts and favorites I got last chapter! And a special thank you to my reviewer, OTHangels! It means a lot to read what you guys think, and I would love some more feedback..._

_I have to warn you, this chapter is a lot less fluffy, and I'm a little unsure about it, so I would really appreciate it if you'd let me know your reactions, good or bad, or any suggestions for further chapters.. Suggestions for baby names are still welcome too!_

* * *

A couple of weeks later Brittany and Santana found themselves on their way home after another doctor's appointment. They were in great spirits because the doctor had told them the baby was doing well. She's still a little bit on the small side, and Santana had been prescribed some iron supplements, but Doctor Montgomery told them they had nothing to worry about as long as Santana stuck to her leisurely lifestyle of the past couple of months.

They were once again discussing baby names – the silly suggestions of the first months had given way to serious conversations, which include lists and shortlists, and basically they still had no clue whatsoever how to decide on a name that their daughter would carry for the rest of her life – so when they passed a bookstore, Brittany steered them inside, deciding it was time for some professional help.

They found the appropriate section quickly, and after a couple of minutes Santana left Brittany to make a selection. As if she needs a book to help her name her daughter. Please. Also, she's secretly a giant book nerd, so any book store she hasn't been to before, needs to be scoped out.

* * *

It's at least fifteen minutes later, Brittany realizes after consulting her phone, and she starts to wonder why Santana isn't back yet. Sure, she pretended not to care which book Brittany picked, but Britt knew that they wouldn't leave the store without Santana's approval.

She grabs her three picks, and starts to wander around, asking herself where Santana would most likely have gotten caught up – that's what she's decided must have happened: Santana started reading something or other, and lost track of time. To her surprise, she's nowhere to be found in the fiction section, not even in the foreign languages section. Brittany loves Santana's dorky side, especially when she reads her French or Spanish poetry. Even if she can't understand what her girlfriend is reading, she could just listen to that raspy voice for hours.

She snapped out of her reverie and made her way back to the non-fiction section, slowly becoming a little worried. Where had Santana gone? She turned a corner, and to her relief, Santana was right there. Her relief soon turned back into worry when she noticed Santana's stance. Her girlfriend looked small and vulnerable, scared even.

Brittany had been so focused on Santana that she hadn't even noticed the other woman in the aisle yet. The woman who her girlfriend scared eyes were staring at. Who was this, and why was Santana scared of her? The mystery woman, who was tall and black haired – that's all Brittany could see, she had her back to her – , inched closer to Santana and semi-whispered something. She hadn't noticed Brittany's presence yet.

"This is a nice surprise," she hissed, and Brittany's breath hitches in her throat. Santana knows her? "But I guess I knew I would see you again eventually," the woman continues, "I see you haven't fared well without me though. Gone back to your slutty ways, huh, _Santi_? Sleeping around, carelessly, getting yourself knocked up, still not brave enough to be honest with yourself, not without me there to hold your hand!" Her voice steadily rose as she was saying all this, and Santana flinched several times, retreating into herself more and more after each hurtful phrase.

Brittany stood there in disbelief. Shock had caused her to freeze. This was Helena, the ex Santana had told her about. Finally she snapped, and immediately she felt ashamed for letting the abuse go on so long, but she just hadn't been able to believe that the filth that woman was spewing was real, and that this wasn't a nightmare.

She stepped forward, raising her voice, "hey, bitch, you better fucking shut up, before I shut you up!" Brittany rarely got angry, but when you hurt someone she cared about, you better be afraid. Santana stared up at Brittany with wide eyes, seemingly in wonder, but right now, Brittany's attention was focused on the woman in between them.

Helena turned around, and for a second Brittany was taken aback. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but Helena was beautiful. Well, objectively she was, with large green eyes, and symmetrical features. However, her anger was marring her beauty, and all Brittany saw was the woman who had hurt her Santana in a terrible way, just now and in the past.

She managed to refrain from slapping Helena in the face, but Santana's eyes were the only thing stopping her. Brittany knew Santana didn't handle violence very well, having witnessed way too much of it at a young age. Brittany was one of the very few people in Santana's life who knew just how much bluff had been behind Santana's aggressive posture back when they were in high school.

She focused her attention back on Helena who was looking at her condescendingly. This didn't impress Brittany however, and she stood up a little taller, readying herself for the confrontation.

"Well, well, well," Helena said, her voice deceivingly sweet, "this must be the infamous Brittany." Although Brittany wasn't surprised Helena recognized her – she had probably gone through every picture on Santana's computer or something like that – it was still odd to be called out like this by someone she had never seen before, especially considering this was the one person on earth she truly hated.

"You better leave right this second," Brittany said in her most threatening voice, secretly feeling weak because she couldn't come with anything better to say. "Don't worry, sweetie," Helena replied, still sounding innocent and sweet, "I'm all done here, I don't have any urge to go back to my _trash_." She turned around and directed that last word straight at Santana, who couldn't help but cower.

At this, Brittany finally lost it, grabbing Helena's hair with one hand, and her arm with the other. She dragged the woman away from Santana, and straight towards the exit, not even caring if anybody else saw what was going on.

When they had made their way outside, Brittany twisted Helena around, staring her straight in the eyes. "If you ever ever try to talk to Santana again, I will make sure that you'll regret it until the day you die!" Brittany hissed into her ear, and shoved her away; then she promptly turned around and went back into the store. Back to Santana.

* * *

She walked back to where she had left her girlfriend, and found her frozen in the exact same spot where she had been before. She looked absolutely devastated and Brittany felt her heart break. This was going to have done so much damage.

Brittany walked up to Santana and engulfed her in the biggest bear hug she had ever given someone in her life. Santana initially flinched, but thankfully sank into the embrace quickly enough. Brittany started to rub soothing circles on her back, and soon she felt Santana bury her face in her neck. Liquid touched her skin, which meant Santana was crying, but Brittany was actually relieved about this. If she was crying, she was allowing herself to feel, she wasn't going to pretend this never happened.

Shifting Santana to her side, she started walking them out of the store, the name books long forgotten. She managed to hail a cab quickly, and got a sniffling Santana safely inside. She glared at the driver, making it clear he shouldn't talk to them, and let Santana rest her head on her shoulder. Kissing her hair and her temple, she lovingly whispered: "we're going home baby, we're going home."

* * *

_Please let me know what you think about this chapter!_


	18. Wondering

A/N: Had a sudden burst of inspiration, so here's an update! This is another flashback... Hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think!

* * *

Brittany stood on the Berry's porch scowling. She had hoped to spend some time alone with Santana, but she could hear Puck's obnoxious voice through the open window. Guess he beat her _again_. Lately Puck and Brittany were always fighting.

They used to be great friends, playing video games together for hours on end. This was always much to Santana's chagrin, who would look on, bored out of her mind. But these last couple of months everything had sort of become a competition between the two of them.

Puck, who was a year older than the girls, had started high school in the fall, and – according to Brittany – it had really gone to his head. He thought he was so cool for making the worst football team in the United States. Brittany couldn't help but snort derisively every time she thought about it. Even worse was that disgusting rat on his head.

Unfortunately, Santana didn't seem to agree with her. Ever since Quinn had gotten on their case about needing a cool boyfriend – she insisted it would make all the difference when they would try out for the cheerios – Santana had started spending a lot more time with the boy. It didn't help that they were next door neighbors. Anytime Brittany got her mom or one of her siblings to drop her off at Santana's house, it seemed like Puck was already there.

Since Brittany couldn't just walk back home, the three of them would usually hang out together. They would occasionally have fun, Brittany had to admit, after all they had all pretty much grown up together. But sometimes Puck and Brittany literally felt like they had to fight for Santana's attention.

To make matters worse, when Brittany did get Santana to herself, the brown-eyed girl would talk about Puck almost non-stop. More specifically, she had initially talked about how it would feel to kiss Puck, and when it had finally happened, she would talk about how great it was, although Brittany had noticed that she sounded just a little too excited sometimes, like when she tried to be nice to Rachel after she had sung ten solos in a row on their karaoke machine.

Brittany, also on Quinn's insistence, had a boyfriend of her own, Mike Chang. They had been friends forever, taking karate lessons together since they were little. She, however, had no desire whatsoever to kiss Mike. Both of them knew they were only 'dating' to keep Quinn happy. They occasionally shared a quick peck to the cheek when they were hanging out in a group, but that was it, and they were both happy to keep it that way. So Santana's endless babbling was sort of hard for Brittany to take.

More importantly, Brittany had been dealing with some pretty weird feelings lately. Whenever she would see Puck kiss Santana, or hear Santana talk about it, her tummy felt sort of weird, and she would get angry with Puck, not knowing why. Even weirder was that she sometimes found herself thinking that she would much rather kiss Santana than Mike. Santana was just so pretty, and so were her lips.

Brittany often fell asleep at night, thinking about how those lips would feel against her own. She had been wondering whether wanting to kiss girls was normal - she had never seen that on T.V. - so she had vowed to ask Alexis, but her sister was very busy, and so far she hadn't managed to have a private conversation with her.

* * *

She took a deep breath and opened the door, finally ready to face the music.

"Hey!" She called out, trying to sound excited.

"Brittany!" Santana replied. She sounded giggly and carefree, and Brittany was conflicted. She loved seeing Santana like this, because lately she got sad or moody easily, but she also wished she could have been the reason for San's good mood.

"What are you guys doing?" Brittany asked, looking around. She didn't see Rachel or their dads anywhere, which was sort of odd. Brittany was pretty sure Santana wasn't supposed to hang out with Puck all by herself. She was only thirteen after all, and Puck was a high schooler.

"Where's your dads and your sister, San?" Brittany asked, feeling like a party pooper, but needing to know anyway.

Santana giggled again, "shhh, Puck's not here!" she said, "they went to the store, Rach needed their advice on some dress for an audition or something, don't really care, but anyways, Puck's not supposed to be here, and he's gotta leave soon!"

While Santana was saying all this, Puck was sending a very satisfied smirk Brittany's way. She felt like he was taunting her, reminding her that he had been alone with Santana while she wasn't here.

"Come sit," he said, "we're watching Big Brother."

"What?" Brittany muttered, "but San, I thought you hated that show." She felt miserable for some reason she couldn't put her finger on.

"Usually I do, but Puck's making fun of everyone, it's hilarious!"

Brittany frowned, but sat down. If Santana said so…

The kids watched the show for another twenty minutes or so; Puck with his arm around Santana's shoulder as if her were a man and not an awkward boy. Brittany had never felt so uncomfortable in her life.

Part of her wanted Mike here, so she would have someone to put his arm around her too, but most of her just wanted Puck to leave, and maybe then _she_ could put _her_ arm around Santana. At least her armpits didn't stink like Puck's did.

* * *

Relief came when they heard a car pull up in the driveway. Puck jumped up like someone was pointing a gun at him, and if Brittany hadn't been so miserable, she would have laughed. Instead she just watched, amused, as Puck fled through the back door as if the devil were on his heels.

Brittany thought it was pretty funny he was so scared, after all Santana's dads probably wouldn't have minded the three of them hanging out, but mostly she was happy that Puck was gone.

They greeted Santana's parents, who seemed happy enough to see Brittany – at least she had that advantage over Puck – and after they had retreated to their bedroom to watch T.V. in there, they settled back on the couch, putting on an old episode of The O.C. instead of stupid Big Brother.

Rachel had also gone upstairs because she needed her beauty sleep – she was the lamest fourteen-year-old on earth sometimes – and Brittany finally felt the knot in her stomach come undone now that she and Santana were alone again.

Santana put her head in Brittany's lap, and as she played with her black hair, listening to her sweet giggles, Brittany reminded herself to talk to Alexis soon. She had to know if it would be okay to kiss Santana.

* * *

_Thoughts?_


End file.
